Dark Angel: Echoes of the Past
by elle6778
Summary: COMPLETE. Their own separate circumstances brought them together, and they had to come to terms with it. AU version of Max and Alec in Manticore.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

Title: Echoes Of The Past  
Author: elle6778  
Rating: M  
Show: Dark Angel  
Genre: Action  
Summary: Their own separate circumstances brought them together, and they had to come to terms with it. AU version of Max and Alec in Manticore.

Warning: Keep in mind that this is an AU fic. Manticore is different. Although I try to keep the characters 'in character', under the different circumstances, what they experienced may result in a shift of their characters. Also, this fic is rated M not only for sexual situations but for scenes which may be a little disturbing to some.

Status: WIP Series.

A/N: You're probably wondering why I started a new story when I barely have time to finish Irresistible Rivals! But an idea has been nagging at me, so here's the result.

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 1**

(by elle6778)

Stormy grey clouds swirled overhead, interspersed with occasional flashes of lightning. Sheets of rain poured down, relentless in its intensity. The ground was soaked, evident by the shallow streams of water washing around the still bodies scattered all over.

Sinking down numbly, his knees hit the ground with a splash. Desperately, he gathered her in his arms. Cold, muddy liquid seeped up his dark camouflage pants, but he barely noticed it. After all, every other inch of his body was just as wet.

The rainwater washed down his face, mingling with the tears he did not realise he had shed. The tears from his hazel eyes streamed down his mud-stained face, streaking his skin with evidence of his anguish.

_No, no…NO!!!_

The strangled voice inside his head was loud, screaming in his head, begging to be let out. But although slightly parted, no sound escaped from his lips. Just the harsh, ragged inhalation and exhalation of his breath. Face twisted in agony, he choked back the urge to scream.

His eyes ran over the unmoving body in front of him. He brushed her short, wet hair away from her cheeks. Then his trembling fingers followed the path of his eyes, caressing the cold, clammy skin with fleeting touches. The colour of her lips had faded. Her usually expressive brown eyes were blank, dead, staring lifelessly up at nothing. The normally golden caramel hue of her skin had turned pasty.

He remembered how spirited she had been, how full of life as she ran beside him, mission after mission. Her eyes had often gazed at him, full of adoration at first and then, as they grew older, something more. Something different.

His fingers trailed down her neck, and then shook uncontrollably when they hovered over the raw bloody gash staining her camouflage top.

He clenched his hands into fists, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Head bowing down, he gritted his teeth, swallowing the sob which threatened to burst forth from his lungs.

"Alec!"

His mind registered a familiar voice calling out for him frantically. Taking a deep breath, he struggled to recompose himself. He could not let them see him like this.

"_ALEC!"_

He lifted his head and turned just as Biggs crouched down beside him. His friend's eyes were large with shock as he stared down at the prone female body cradled in his bloodstained arms.

"No," Biggs hissed softly, his entire body shaking. "It can't be," he exclaimed brokenly.

Alec shook his head sadly, unable to speak in his anguish. How could he let this happen? It was _his_ mission. It was _his_ responsibility to ensure that they all make it out safely.

And he had failed.

He had failed himself, Manticore and the rest of his team.

Worst of all, he had failed _her_.

* * *

Explosives detonated one after another in rapid succession. The resulting vibration rumbled through the desert loudly, shaking everything within its reach. Red dust swirled around them, clouding the surrounding air. 

Through the haze, she saw the trajectory of the missile as it arced across the sky, headed straight at them. Under normal circumstances, there would be no way of avoiding the impending impact. However, her reaction was far from normal.

Her petite body jerked back in recoil. A second later, a warhead flew directly into the path of the missile, making it explode mid-flight.

But there was no time to celebrate. No time for a break.

There were only thirteen of them huddled together in the ruins of a long-forgotten city against what seemed like hundreds of enemy troops. The odds were not good, even for transgenics.

Something had gone wrong with the intel. Someone had messed up somewhere. Instead of a small group of militants, they were facing an entire military platoon, or two. And these guys seemed to know what they were doing. And to make things worse, they were well equipped.

Max hefted the launcher higher up on one of the stone walls. On her right, Jondy was emptying rounds after rounds from her rifle. To her left, Ben was crouching down to prepare another warhead. The moment Ben finished loading the warhead, Max launched a shot at an approaching tank. They watched as the tank shattered, throwing pieces of metal into the air.

Max's eyes widened as three more tanks approached. But before she could say anything, Eva beat her to it.

"Zack! There are too many of them," she could hear Eva yelling over the deafening sound of retaliating shots.

Zack's eyes met Max's briefly before it landed on Jack. "Did you manage to get hold of Sandoval?" he asked, his dusty face displaying his worry.

Jack shook his head, a deep frown marring his brow. "Negative. There's some interference in the area."

"It's beginning to look like an ambush, Zack," Brin shouted from the other side of the ruins.

Max stiffened. Ambush? How could anyone know they were there?

The comms next to Tinga crackled. "…two? Unit two, are you there?"

Zack grabbed the comms receiver. "Unit two copy. We're outnumbered. Things are turning ugly. Requesting reinforcement."

Sandoval's voice crackled on. "Negative, Unit two. You need to evacuate. Pick-up chopper will be there in a minute. You are to pull out now. This is an order. Pull out NOW!"

Zack's expression was grim. "Affirmative, sir!"

A loud explosion sounded nearby, throwing chunks of stone into the air.

"Ben, prepare to load another one."

Biting her lower lip in concentration, Max aimed and fired at another tank. The warhead met its target, blowing up the tank into smithereens.

Max straightened just in time to see several grenades flying towards them. Her eyes widened in horror. _No!_

"Damn it! Get down, Max!" Zack yelled urgently, throwing himself at her.

Max felt Zack's body ramming into hers, knocking her away from her position at the wall.

The shockwaves of a series of explosions wracked over her. Horrified screams pierced the air amidst the sound of collapsing stone structure.

Then everything went black.

* * *

**…Eighteen months later…**

The clangs of forks and knife hitting plates were loud in the mess hall as the transgenics wolfed down the standard Manticore nourishments. Most of them sat together with their own units but there were some stragglers who gatecrashed other tables. Occasional laughter could be heard echoing down the hall, punctuated by yells of outrage and sniggers.

Alec looked up from his plate when a plate landed on the table in front of him. As Biggs settled himself into the empty seat, Alec gave him a nod of greeting.

The dark haired transgenic seemed to be preoccupied with something, Alec noticed with amusement. His friend's face was scrunched up, deep in thought.

With a quirk of his eyebrow, Alec asked, "What's with that look?"

Startled, Biggs just stared at him blankly for a moment before he formed a response. "Oh, that. Just thinking about the meeting this morning."

Alec frowned. The meeting that morning should have covered the usual stuff; missions, kits and training sessions. Not that he knew for sure, seeing that he had spent the best part of the morning kicking a stubborn X6 into shape. As the Second-in-Command, Biggs had sat in on the meeting for him.

"What of it?" he asked curiously.

Biggs dropped his fork and gave Alec a wary look. "There's a new transfer into our unit," he explained quietly.

Alec gritted his teeth, his hands tightening around his knife. "We don't need one. I thought I'd made that clear on more than one occasion."

Biggs nodded. "That's what I told him. But Lydecker's not listening."

"What the hell do we need another member for? We're fine as we are," Alec bit out tersely.

Holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, Biggs said, "Hey, don't take it out on me."

Lunch forgotten, Alec pushed back his chair with a loud scrape and stood up. "You're right."

Taken aback, Biggs frowned in confusion. "What?"

His expression resolute, he replied, "I'll have a word with Lydecker."

Biggs's hand on his arm stilled his movement. "Don't do anything stupid, buddy."

Alec smirked. "I don't need you to tell me that."

* * *

"Don't be stupid, 494!" 

"It's Alec," Alec muttered under his breath. Lydecker knew fully well what his name was. The colonel only used his designation when he was annoyed.

Like now.

Lydecker's eyes narrowed. "Insubordination means anything to you, 494?"

Acknowledging the admonishment with a nod, Alec sighed. "Sir, I'm objecting to the transfer because we don't need it. Bringing in a new member right now would be disruptive to the unit."

"Disruptive to the unit or disruptive to you personally?" Lydecker asked, giving Alec a knowing look."

Alec gritted his teeth. "The unit, sir!"

"Hmph!" A thoughtful look followed. And then Lydecker continued in a quieter voice, "You've got to stop blaming yourself."

Alec stiffened. He had no doubt about what was going on in Lydecker's mind. "I'm not sure what you're referring to, sir," he said edgily.

Lydecker raised an eyebrow at him. "Pretending to be dense doesn't suit you, Alec."

So it was back to Alec, huh? "I agree, sir," he replied with a straight face, smiling inside.

Lips twitching, Lydecker said, "In that case, I'm sure you understand when I say that this transfer has nothing to do with the performance of your unit. The X5 in question simply could not be fitted into another unit as the rest are already filled to capacity."

Stifling the urge to groan, Alec asked, "Doesn't he have his own unit?"

"_She_ did. But not anymore."

Alec frowned. "What do you mean?"

"An ambush wiped out her entire unit. And the girl had gone through hell to get back here," Lydecker explained gravely.

Falling silent, Alec looked away thoughtfully. He had lost one of his unit a year ago. Until now, he still had nightmares about it. He could not imagine how it would feel to lose his entire unit.

"I take it from your silence that you have no further objection?"

Alec scowled. Yeah, he had _objections_ alright. But it was not like Lydecker was going to listen.

"No, sir," he bit out grudgingly.

"Good. You can go now."

* * *

The engine of her black Ninja purred powerfully as she sped along the highway. 

The wind swept past her face, the warm summer air felt like soft fingers caressing her skin. Her long black hair streamed out freely behind her, unrestrained, completely at odds with the feelings within her.

Forced.

Caged in.

Restless.

Empty.

She did not want to go to Seattle. But then again, she did not want to be anywhere else either. But Sandoval had made it very clear to her that she had no choice but to follow orders. He had even gone as far as to threaten her with Psy-Ops.

Right, she thought with a snort. Sandoval just wanted to get rid of her because he had run out of ideas on how to deal with her. She was pretty sure that he would not send her to Psy-Ops. After all, it had been more than a decade since any transgenic was subjected to that horrible procedure. Manticore had done away with it ages ago. It was bad for morale, according to the panel of psychologists.

Or perhaps she was being transferred because none of the other units was willing to put up with her. She sighed, knowing that she had no one to blame but herself for their reaction. But working in another unit was the last thing she had wanted to do.

Especially after…

_No, don't think about it, Max!_

Blinking rapidly, she turned her attention back to the road. She was almost there, Max thought as she spotted a path leading into a fence area not too far ahead. She turned in at the unmarked path and continued to ride deeper into the woods until finally, the trees thinned out into an open grassy area bounded by wire fencing.

Security consisted of two Ordinary male guards standing outside a small hut at the gate, she noted. Her eyes narrowed as she sensed the presence of two other beings inside the hut. Transgenics, she thought. Their breathing patterns told her that they were likely to be X6s.

One of the guards stepped into the line of her view. "This is a restricted area," he informed her with a frown that was supposed to be intimidating.

Max regarded him silently, her eyes unwavering. It was only when the guard had begun to exhibit signs of nervousness that she slowly stepped off her bike.

The guard's hand went to the gun at his side.

Max raised an eyebrow at him. Then, bending forward, she swung her hair to the side, exposing her barcode to the guard.

Her lips twitched when she heard the guard exhale a relieved breath. Stepping closer, he took out a black, handheld scanner from his jacket and ran it over her barcode.

When she straightened, he looked at her and said, "X5-452, Colonel Lydecker is expecting you in his office. You need to report there first thing."

She nodded curtly and mounted her bike.

When the gate opened, she roared through them into Manticore's Seattle facility.

Her new home.

* * *

His footsteps rapped a steady beat on the concrete floor as he made his way to Lydecker's office. The colonel had demanded his presence. 

A unit of X8s marched down the whitewashed corridor from the opposite direction and he stood aside to let them pass. Like him, all of them were dressed in grey t-shirt and camouflage pants. The young eight-year old team leader snapped a smart salute at him and the rest followed suit.

Once they had passed, Alec resumed his journey until he reached his destination.

Outside Lydecker's office, his hand paused just a fraction of an inch before it hit the door. He could hear muffled voices from within; a lower, harsher one belonging to Lydecker and a terse sounding female.

_Her _voice.

Alec shook his head violently to clear it. It was just his imagination.

He looked at his watch. It was 1700 hours. Well, Lydecker had specifically said that he was to be there at 1700 sharp.

Tapping on a door twice, he stood back and waited.

Lydecker's voice filtered through the door. "Come in."

Alec twisted the knob and the door swung open. As he stepped in, his eyes went to a petite figure clad in a tank top and black leather pants, with long black hair hanging loose down her back. Facing away, she was staring out of the window, blatantly ignoring him and Lydecker.

An obviously strained Lydecker gestured for him to shut the door.

Raising his eyebrow at the older man, Alec pushed the door shut. What could have possibly agitated the colonel _this_ much?

Alec gave him a questioning look. "Sir?"

Lydecker gestured to the figure standing by the window. "Alec, meet the latest addition to your unit, X5-452. She also goes by Max."

The figure finally turned around.

A pair of chocolate brown eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him.

At the same time, Alec's jaw went slack.

_No, it can't possibly be her._

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope you've enjoyed the introduction to this story. It would be nice if you could let me know what you think – honestly! I need to know whether I should continue or not. :P 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Hey all, thank you so much for those encouraging reviews. They made me feel a lot better about committing myself to another story, lol! Here's the next chapter. Hope that you'll enjoy it.

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 2**

(by elle6778)

_No, it can't possibly be her._

Alec blinked. And then blinked again, not trusting his eyes. His entire mind had decided to shut down on him and for a moment, he found himself unable to respond in any way.

Their eyes locked for a long while, both staring at each other as if they had seen a ghost. In a way, that was true, Alec supposed. It was like seeing Sam's ghost.

The girl looked exactly like Sam. Well, apart from the hair. Sam had preferred to keep her hair short. Alec swallowed past the lump in his throat. _But she is not Sam_, he reminded himself bitterly. Sam was dead. Too far gone even for Manticore to revive.

_Max. _

_Her name is Max. _

_Not Sam. _

_452, not 453._

And what about her reaction? She seemed just as shell-shocked as he was. Even more so, if that was possible, Alec thought. That was odd. Why should she be surprised to see him? It was not as if they had met before.

Lydecker must have done this on purpose, the sneaky old man. The colonel knew fully well that introducing Sam's twin into his unit would be cruel, and yet he did it. But why?

Then her eyes left him, breaking the spell. Those chocolate brown orbs shot a glare at Lydecker.

"He is not…" she began cautiously, but Lydecker cut in.

"Max, this is 494, also known as Alec. He's the Commanding Officer of the Unit 6. You'll be joining them," he explained, seemingly unaware of the tension.

Alec watched with interest as her eyes narrowed just a fraction at Lydecker's words.

"What's the meaning of this, Deck?" she bit out, her voice measured.

_Deck?_ Alec smirked. So, the girl had guts. But seeing that she shared the same genetic make-up with Sam, he was not too surprised. But she was in for it now. Surely Lydecker would not stand for it.

"You heard me, Max," was all Lydecker said, his voice containing a hint of weariness.

Stunned at Lydecker's non-reaction, Alec interjected before he could stop himself, "Insubordination, sir."

Spinning around, she pinned a fiery glare on him. "You stay out of this," she hissed venomously.

Unperturbed, Alec directed an icy look at her. "You may want to remember that I'm your CO."

Snorting inelegantly, she retorted, "Yeah, sure."

Not expecting the not-so-subtle brush-off, Alec tensed immediately. He gritted his teeth. Now he knew why Lydecker was so tense. Max probably had words with the old man earlier. The girl needed to be taken down a peg or two. Hell, she needed to be squashed flat to the ground. Several times.

By _him_ personally.

"We'll see how well you'll cope with the training here, shall we? It's bound to be…different," Alec remarked casually, but he was aware of the challenging undertone to his voice.

Her lips curled. The gleam in her eyes told him that she understood him perfectly. "Bring it on, soldier."

"Enough!" Lydecker snapped, obviously tired of their verbal jabs at each other. "Alec, you'll show Max to her cell."

"In the basement, sir? I believe there are a few available ones there," Alec asked with a straight face. With the anomalies and the transhumans. Where she belonged.

Lydecker shot him a warning look. "No. Together with the rest of your unit."

A thought occurred to Alec. No, Lydecker would not be as warped as that, would he? He was not thinking of allocating _that_ cell to Max.

Then Lydecker continued, "She's to be housed next to Biggs."

Alec closed his eyes in relief. At least that hellcat would not be occupying Sam's cell.

* * *

Max was fuming when she left Lydecker's office.

She could not believe it. Lydecker had the _nerve_ to put her in the same unit as Ben's twin. Lydecker _knew_ how she would react, and yet, he went ahead and done it.

Not only that. Ben's twin _had_ to be someone as cocky as Alec. From the second his eyes had landed on her, she knew that he had something against her. The reason for his animosity remained unknown, but the reason was not important to her.

This was going to be painful. Having him around as the reminder of Ben and hence, the fate of the rest of her unit, was going to be painful enough without him treating her like some second-class soldier.

But she would show him.

Hefting her backpack higher over her shoulders, she glared at the broad back in front of her. It was disturbing how much he looked like Ben. If he had not opened his big mouth, she would never have known that he was not Ben. For a second, she had even thought that Manticore had somehow managed to revive the long-dead Ben.

_But Ben is dead_, she reminded herself, feeling as if she had just stabbed herself in the heart.

_No, he is not Ben,_ Max reiterated to herself. Her brain knew it, but it was still hard to adjust. She felt like she had lost Ben all over again.

She closed her eyes briefly. It was never going to be the same again. For the past eighteen months, she had tried to lose herself in her work. It worked to a certain extent, but the nightmares were still there.

She had been moved from one unit to another in Wyoming, but for various reasons, it had not worked out. There was no reason for her to expect it to be different this time round. She guessed she would be going off pretty much on her own here as well. With a twitch of her lips, she wondered what Manticore would do once they had run out of units to transfer her to.

Wordlessly, she continued to follow Alec out of the Command Centre into the open.

She looked up and around her. Although the sun was no longer high in the sky, the rays were still intense, bathing the compound in a bright glare. The trees stood unmoving in the still, humid air. There were five identical three-storey blocks in the area linked together with a covered walkway.

Alec made a beeline towards the furthest block.

As they approached the entrance, he broke the silence. "This is the block we share with Unit 5. We're on the top floor."

Max nodded wordlessly as she followed him into the lobby. A stair stood right in front of them, splitting the two wings of the block.

Gesturing to his right, he said, "There's a small kitchen in there. You can get to the main mess hall through the kitchen if you follow the external walkway." Then he turned to his left. "The indoor training hall is to the left."

Max inclined her head in acknowledgement and then watched with interest when Alec raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're allowed to speak, by the way," he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. Of course she knew she was allowed to speak. She just did not feel like it. "Should I be making small talk then? Should I be getting to know my new CO better, hmm?"

Already halfway up the stairs, Alec turned back to give her an assessing look. And then, his eyes wandered up and down her form slowly, almost insulting in its intensity.

Max gritted her teeth. She had no doubt that he was deliberately doing it just to annoy her. Tilting her chin up, she returned his blatant perusal with one of her own, making sure that her expression conveyed nothing but bored disinterest.

"Sweetheart, you'll be at the end of a long line of queue if you want to get to know me better," he drawled.

_The self-absorbed jackass!_ She bared her teeth in a parody of a smile. "I guess it's just as well because I don't see anything worth queuing for."

His eyes narrowed a little at her comment, but it was enough to make her smirk. Glaring down at her, he opened his mouth but she beat him to it.

"Well, are you going to stand there all day or are you going to show me my new cell?"

Turning away from her abruptly, he snapped irritably, "Follow me."

"Yes, _sir,_" she replied with a mocking undertone, grinning inwardly when saw the sudden tensing of his shoulders.

* * *

Alec walked briskly away from her cell, grinding his teeth together in irritation. The girl was nothing short of impossible.

What the hell was Lydecker thinking, transferring someone like _her_ into his unit? All she would do was to upset the entire unit, especially with that attitude of hers.

He walked into his cell and slammed the door shut. Dropping himself down to his bunk, he exhaled a heavy breath. How the hell was he supposed to make sure that she did not disrupt his unit?

As a CO, he could not treat her any differently from the other, however much her presence disturbed him. And alienating her would not achieve anything but create distress in the team.

Alec sighed heavily. He guessed that he would have to endeavour to be civil to her.

A moment later, a knock sounded at his door.

Still deep in thought, he snapped irritably without looking up, "What?"

Biggs peeked in, his face scrunching up at the harsh tone. "What's eating you?" he asked in bewilderment before he stepped into the cell.

Alec released a weary sigh. "You won't believe what Lydecker did."

"Oh?"

"The new transfer. She's here."

Biggs grinned. "So it's a _she_," he exclaimed with glee. "What's wrong with that?"

"Her designation's 452," Alec supplied darkly. He paused momentarily, and then continued, "She's Sam's twin."

Biggs jaw dropped, all traces of his grin evaporating instantly. "You've got to be kidding me."

Alec shook his head. "No." Burying his head in his hands, he continued, "This is not good."

Looking thoughtful, Biggs remarked slowly, "It might not turn out so bad. If she's like Sam…"

"No!" Alec interrupted, springing to his feet. "She's _nothing_ like Sam. Not with an attitude like that."

"Attitude?" Biggs parroted in confusion.

Alec groaned and sat back down. "You've got to see it for yourself."

Biggs frowned. "It can't be that bad."

"You say that now. But you judge for yourself when you see her."

* * *

Another state, another facility, another cell, but Max felt like she had stayed in one which looked exactly like this one. She could have sworn that the last cell she had occupied had the exact same diagonal crack at the corner of the doorway.

Blockwork walls that looked like it had just been painted white not too long ago lined the rectangular room. A small cupboard was shoved to one corner at the foot of the single bunk.

Max's eyes went to the door, making a mental note to pinch the keys from the guards. Including the master key. There was an unwritten rule that they were not supposed to lock the doors, but Max had no intention of surrendering her privacy.

Her lips twisted into a self-deprecating smile. Privacy had never been an issue before. At one time, her door had always been left open, with the rest of her unit walking in and out as they pleased.

But that seemed like such a long time ago. Had it just been eighteen months since that disastrous mission? She realised that ever since she had returned to Manticore, having managed to escape from her captors, she had never felt safe without a lock on the door.

She knew that that was the root of the problem. But what could she do to change it? How could she ever feel safe again with those memories in her head?

A shrill sound rang in the hallway, startling her out of her thoughts.

A quick glance at her watch told her that it was time for dinner. She could hear the sound of cell doors opening and shutting, followed by the thundering sound of footsteps outside her cell.

She remained seated on her bunk, deliberating whether she should leave to join the rest or not.

Whether she should put off the inevitable meeting with yet another new unit.

With a sigh, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Meeting her new unit mates could wait. A bitter smile flitted across her lips. And anyway, at this rate, every X5 would have at one point or another, been her unit mate.

Besides, she was not hungry.

* * *

_All the members of Unit 6 were lined up in a neat row, awaiting his next command. Alec snuck a glance at the opposition at the other end of the sparring mat. Unit 4 was listening intently to their CO, taking in every last bit of advice before the sparring competition._

_Alec grinned. This time, he was going to make sure that Unit 6 won. Lydecker had offered the prize of a weekend out, all expenses covered, and that was not something he or the rest of his unit wanted to pass up on._

_A loud pop sounded somewhere behind him._

_Alec turned around with a frown. "What's that?" he asked quietly out of the corner of his mouth._

_His whole unit just looked at him blankly. Then, just as he turned away, another pop sounded. This time he knew where it came from._

"_Sam!"_

_Innocent brown eyes stared at him enquiringly. "Yes?"_

"_Spit it out," he ordered the thirteen-year-old girl._

_Those eyes widened. "Wasn't me, Alec."_

"_Lose the gum or you're out!" he threatened._

_The expression in those eyes turned defiant. Alec resisted the urge to groan. Not now, Sam, he thought, frustrated. He waited for a few seconds, but the stubborn look remained on her face._

_Making up his mind, Alec said, "Fine. Twenty laps around the track."  
_

"_What?"_

"_Now, Sam!"_

"_But…"_

"_That's your punishment for disobeying an order."_

_Wordlessly, she fell out of line. After two steps, she turned and shot him an accusing look over her shoulders._

_A sudden darkness enveloped him._

_The next thing he knew, Sam was lying still in his arms._

_Alec felt his heart stop. No, no!_

_Those chocolate brown eyes stared up accusingly at him. The open gash in her chest spurted thick, dark red blood. He pressed his shaking hands against the wound, but her life continued to seep out between his fingers._

_His voice was desperate. "You'll be okay, Sam. Hang on, help will be here soon. Please stay with me," he begged in a broken voice._

_She opened her mouth, and a thin stream of blood trickled out of the corner. Gurgling with her own blood, she rasped, "How could you? You said that everything would be alright."_

_He stared at her, unable to speak. His own guilt was eating him up._

_Her eyes became impossibly wide, the accusation in them jarring. "You let me die, Alec. YOU LET ME DIE!"_

Alec shot upright in his bunk. His breath was ragged and his body shook violently. Sweat dotted his forehead.

It was a dream.

Just a dream, he reassured himself, trying to steady the rapid hammering of his heart.

He laid back down, inhaling deeply.

Groaning, he rubbed away the sweat from his face. He had not had such a vivid dream for a long time. At one point, he had been dreaming about Sam almost every night. The nightmares had decreased gradually into nothing. He did not remember having any in the last few months. What could have possibly brought this on?

Max.

Max's appearance must have brought this on, he thought darkly. Her presence would forever be a reminder of Sam, not that he needed any help remembering.

His watch was showing 0500 hours. Alec sighed. There was no chance of getting back to sleep now. He might as well get up.

He picked up the clothes that had been tossed by the side of the bed last night. Clad only in a pair of black boxer shorts, he pulled open the cell door and made his way to the communal showers at the end of the block.

He was about to push the doors to the shower room when the sound of running water stopped him. Frowning slightly, he wondered who could be up at this unearthly hour in the morning.

Shrugging, he pushed the door open and stepped in.

Then he froze in his tracks.

_Sam._

A pair of eyes stared at him coldly from the far end of the shower stalls, reminding him that he was staring at Max, not Sam.

There was a scar on the underside of her arm, he noted absently.

Slowly, Max lowered the arm she was in the process of soaping. Turning away from him, she stepped under the water, pointedly ignoring him. Gathering her hair up away from her neck, she began to lather it.

From where he was standing, the tiled partition wall obscured most of her body from his view, but he could see another jagged scar running from one side of her barcode down to her shoulders. And another scar crossing the first one down her back.

Alec frowned. What the hell had happened to her? Transgenics healed so fast that it was very rare for them to sustain any scarring.

He pulled his gaze away and walked towards the laundry chute. There, he dropped his pile of soiled clothes and then glanced back over his shoulders at Max. She was still facing away from him. Alec quickly removed his boxers and tossed it into the chute. Grabbing a clean towel from the shelf, he wrapped it around himself before walking across the room to the stalls.

As he passed the low bench separating the shower stalls from the sinks, he unwrapped himself and tossed his towel there. Steeping into the stall at the opposite end from hers, he wondered why he bothered to cover himself in that short distance. It was not as if he was shy or anything like that. None of them could afford to by shy. Normally, this morning routine involved his whole unit being in the showers at the same time. Considering that there were only ten shower stalls in a row against the wall, sometimes they even shared the same stall.

But he guessed it was different with Max. After all, the rest of his unit was his family. They grew up together doing almost everything together. Max, on the other hand, was a stranger, however much she resembled Sam appearance-wise.

Facing the wall, he adjusted the knob until a spray of warm water hit him. Squirting a handful of soap from the dispenser, he began to wash himself.

A sharp squeak from his right told him that Max had turned off her shower. He had not seen her since he left her at her cell last night. The rest of the unit was curious about her, but there had been no sign of her at the mess hall.

Suddenly, his senses told him that he was being watched.

He glanced over his shoulders to find a towel-clad Max staring at him with an amused expression on her face. Staring at his bare ass, to be exact. He paused in the action of rubbing the soap on his chest, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Resisting the urge to cover himself from her, Alec slowly raised his eyebrows. "Like what you see?" he asked with a smirk.

Her eyebrow arched. "Just returning the gesture," she said levelly.

She must be referring to his earlier perusal of her body, Alec thought with a small amount of amusement. Turning away from her, he resumed washing himself. Conversationally, he said, "Slept well?"

"Don't sleep much," came the abrupt response.

He turned his head around, his eyes following her as she took another towel from the shelf. "Shark DNA?"

A fleeting look of surprise came over a face before it vanished just as quickly. "Was that a lucky guess?" she asked as she towelled her hair, her voice muffled by the towel.

"I knew someone who had the same thing," he said, knowing that he sounded a little strained.

She gave him a thoughtful look, and then she shrugged. "Well, it has its benefits," she remarked. Then, turning away from him, she casually dropped her towel and began to dress.

"Yeah," was all Alec said, uncharacteristically at a loss for words. The scars which had been obscured from him earlier were now fully exposed to his view. In addition to the those he had seen before, there were two more lines running across her back.

Involuntarily, his eyes landed on the swell of her ass and then followed down her long legs. No, she was definitely different from Sam, he noted somewhat uncomfortably.

Tearing his eyes away before his thoughts, and his eyes, drifted elsewhere, he said, "Well, I hope you're all set for the morning drill."

"Hmm," she responded noncommittally.

The rasping sound of a zipper being pulled up reached him. He twisted around to look at her again, feeling oddly relieved that she was almost fully dressed. "I think a sparring session might be interesting," he added meaningfully, recalling their conversation the day before.

To Alec's surprise, the corner of her lips lifted and a spark of light entered her eyes. She pulled her grey shirt over her head as she walked to the door.

Stopping in front of his shower stall, she said, "I'm looking forward…" and then she paused. Alec watched incredulously as unabashedly, her eyes drifted down to his backside.

"…to kicking your ass," she finished with a smirk.

Before he could respond, she strode out of the door.

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: Okay, what do you think? Do you like the direction it's heading? Please review and let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Hey, thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I hope this update is soon enough for you, hehe! This chapter is a little longer. I must not make it a habit to write long chapters – it's very time consuming!! Hope you'll enjoy it!

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 3**

(by elle6778)

The glazed walkway linking the residential blocks together was filled to capacity as the transgenics headed for the mess hall. They joked and laughed amongst each other, their actions a testament of the camaraderie shared between them.

Travelling in the opposite direction, Max felt acutely aware of the fact that she was, in fact, an outsider. These people knew each other for years, grew up together and cried and sweated through the trainings and the missions.

She sighed. She missed her family. Missed how they used to talk, how they used to be there for each other and she missed everything little thing they did together. Things which she had taken for granted, thinking that they would always be there. That they would always be together. But she was so wrong. Her eyes suddenly stung. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to think of something else.

She looked out through the glass wall, noting that a number of transgenics was taking a less crowded route to the mess hall by cutting across the training grounds. Her steps slowed as a bittersweet smile of remembrance graced her lips. It seemed that some things just never changed, whether they were in Wyoming or in Seattle.

"_Hey, Max, we're going to be late," Zane complained beside her as she struggled to scrub the purple paint off her face._

_Throwing the towel down in irritation, she scowled at the twelve-year-old boy beside her. "Aww…isn't it just too bad? You should have thought about it before playing that stupid trick on me."_

"_Come on, Max. I can't go out without my boots," he whined pathetically._

_The door to their dorm opened and Zack stepped in. "You two are still here? What happened to your face, Max?" he asked impatiently. Turning his attention to Zane's feet, he asked, "Where are your boots?"_

_Zane glanced at her hesitantly. And then he muttered, "I kinda misplaced it. Go ahead without us. We'll catch up."_

_Retreating back out of the door, Zack gave them a suspicious look. "Don't be late," he warned._

_When the door slammed shut behind their CO, Zane turned back to her. "Max! Please!" he pleaded._

_Max planted her hands on her hips, staring at him with an incredulous look on her face. "I'm purple. Sandoval will make me do laps for this. I've got to get it out, stupid!" she snapped irritably._

_His face set in determined lines, Zane grabbed another towel and began to scrub her face. Between the two of them, her face gradually returned to its normal colour, albeit a little red from all the scrubbing._

"_Boots!" Zane reminded her as she rushed out of the door without him._

"_Wedged behind Zack's bunk!" she yelled over her shoulders._

_The last thing she heard from him as she went around the corner was, "He's going to kill you!"_

_By the time Zane finally caught up with her at the main door, they were already late. "The training grounds," he said quickly._

"_What?" she asked, confused._

"_It's faster to cut across the training ground. Then we can climb up to the lecture room," he explained as he pulled her along._

_Together, they blurred across the training ground towards the tall building in the distance._

A bump against her shoulders brought her out of her reflection. Max blinked, a little disorientated. She did not realise that she had stopped walking altogether.

"Sorry," a tall, dark-haired X5 muttered. Then his eyes sharpened as they focussed on her. "Hey, are you the new transfer to our unit?"

A little warily, she asked, "Your unit?"

He nodded energetically, his face breaking into a smile. "Yeah. Unit 6. I'm Biggs, by the way. And you're Max, right?"

Slightly taken aback by his friendliness, Max just nodded wordlessly.

Gesturing in the direction he was travelling, he offered, "Come on, let's grab some breakfast."

She declined politely, shaking her head, "I'm okay. I already grabbed something earlier."

With a casual shrug, he said, "Okay. I guess I'll see you later then."

"Sure," Max replied absently, watching him as he joined the crowd.

A friendly face. That was something that she rarely encountered recently.

Pity? Yes. Lots of it. She supposed it was quite pitiful that she was the only one left in her original unit.

Wariness? Yes. But they had no reason to worry. She had enough of her own problems to sort out without creating more.

Curiosity? Yeah, that too.

She knew that Alec had seen the scars on her body. Her lips twisted. No one could miss them. That was one of the reasons why when she could help it, she always took her shower before any of them woke up. It saved her from answering the awkward questions.

Alec's presence this morning was unexpected. To her surprise, he had refrained from making a sarcastic comment. She had no doubt that he was more than capable of it. Why he had held his tongue? She had definitely not given him any reason to be nice to her.

And there was that unresolved challenge of his. She still had to take him up on it.

* * *

The morning sun bathed the transgenics in the training grounds in its warm rays as they rushed about. There was a slight breeze in the air, but not enough to cool their sweaty bodies.

Alec watched intently as the twelve transgenics ran laps around the training ground. Not far from him, at the other end of the open space, two other units were carrying out their own training. One more lap and then he would move on to the next task, he decided.

"Alec?"

He snapped out of his thoughts to find the entire unit staring at him expectantly. Somehow, he had failed to notice that they had completed the run.

Composing his face into his CO mask, he said, "Alright. Pair up. We'll run through the standard kicks and punches before sparring."

"Erm, Alec? There are thirteen of us," Biggs gestured uncertainly around them.

Comprehension dawned. "Right," he muttered. Ever since Sam's absence, the even number meant that each of them had a partner. He guessed that now he would be the odd one out. He glanced at Max, but her attention was fixed to an imaginary point in front of her.

"I'll stand to the side. The rest of you pair up," he said, watching as his regular partner, Biggs, paired up with Max. He blinked in surprise when Biggs winked at the girl and then barely managed to stifle his laughter when he saw Max giving Biggs a suspicious look. Sam would have laughed it off, Alec thought before he could stop himself.

_Because she's not Sam, you idiot_, he reminded himself. Shaking himself inwardly, he began the exercise.

As he led them through a series of warm-up punches and kicks, Alec's mind wandered back to the latest addition to his unit. Although she had been up even before him, she had missed breakfast with them that morning. Alec frowned. This was the second meal she had missed. He wondered if she was going to make that a habit.

There was no regulation which required them to sit down for meals together, but under the circumstances, he would have thought that she might at least make the effort to join in. Instead, Biggs had told him earlier in the mess hall that Max already had her breakfast before them. She had joined them only when they were all gathered in the training grounds, looking as if she had already ran a couple of laps.

How was he supposed to maintain unity in the unit when one of the members insisted on going her own way? How was he supposed to remain impartial and treat her like the rest? In addition to that, how could he stop associating her with Sam when Max looked exactly like Sam?

Suddenly feeling irritated, Alec gritted his teeth and forced himself to concentrate on the training. He was spending way too much time thinking worrying about it. If Max really wanted to seclude herself, it was her choice so long as she did not mess up the rest of the unit.

He strode closer to them, signalling for his unit to move to the sparring 'mat'. It was not really a mat in the traditional sense, but a rectangular outline drawn on the concrete floor to mark the sparring zone.

As they gathered around the perimeter of the mat, Alec called out, "Alright, who's going first?"

Ren, an X5 with an abundance of Hispanic genes, stepped onto the mat. "I think it's my turn with Laney."

Her short blonde hair bouncing around her face, Laney stepped in front of Ren. "Okay, ready when you are."

Alec nodded for them to start. They circled each other. A series of strikes followed in rapid succession. Laney seemed to have improved, Alec thought with satisfaction. It must have been all the extra training Biggs had given her.

However, it seemed that Ren still had the upper hand. Alec stifled a smile when a very disgruntled looking Laney pushed herself up from the ground after absorbing a side kick to her hips. Then, in an unexpected move, she feigned an attack, and then floored Ren with a roundhouse.

As Alec nodded in approval, Ren stood up and grinned. "Well, I guess we're even now."

"Damn right we are," Laney retorted as the rest laughed.

Alec clapped his hands together. "Next pair?"

"You should go, Alec. You missed out just now," Biggs pointed out.

Alec hesitated for a moment as what he had said to Max came back to him. With a nod, he stepped into the middle of the mat and held his hands out. "Well, who has a death wish?"

The rest sniggered around him.

"Hardly a death wish, Alec," Thena commented wryly, rolling her eyes.

His eyes landed on Max, and he quirked a brow in challenge. He still wanted to take her down a peg or two, not to mention that as the CO he needed to know how well she performed. The corner of his lips lifted when Max stepped forward.

When she was a foot away from him, she stopped. "I believe I owe a kick to a certain part of your anatomy," she so softly that only he could hear her.

Alec smirked, unperturbed. So the girl really intended to kick his ass, huh? Well, she could try, he thought with amusement. He was not the CO for no good reason.

"Come on, then. Show me what you've got," he challenged.

Her face set in concentration, she charged forward without warning. Alec ducked an incoming punch and crouched down, sweeping his foot in a wide circle. Max jumped, his kick only glancing her boots lightly.

Not bad, Alec thought as he resettled himself into the neutral stance. They circled each other slowly, and Alec kept his eyes on hers, trying to gauge her next move. She has adopted their usual stance, but there was something about how she held herself which made it look different.

The next attack came fast, almost too fast for him to see. Alec's eyes widened in alarm, but her fist was retracted just as it was about to connect. The out of balance force caused her body to slam into him instead, throwing both of them to the ground.

_What the hell was that?_ Was it just his imagination or did she pull back? That would explain why they were now lying tangled on the ground. He rolled over, pinning her under him.

"What did you do that for?" he hissed quietly into her face. The warmth of her body under his suddenly told him just how close they were pressed together. Subtly, he lifted himself off her to minimise the contact.

She stared back at him. "What are you talking about?" she retorted belligerently.

Alec stiffened. The same eyes, the same mutinous expression, he thought, swallowing hard. It was as if he had done this before in a different place and a different time.

_She tackled him to the ground, but he easily reversed their position such that he had her pinned down. They were both breathing hard._

"_I said, cut it out!" he snapped irritably._

_The pair of chocolate brown orbs widened innocently. "What are you talking about?"_

"_Don't play dumb, Sam."_

"_Honestly, Alec. What?"_

_He sighed in exasperation. "You can't always get what you want, Sam. I explained why we can't do what you're asking."_

_Her expression turned mutinous. "I wasn't aware that I was asking for anything."_

_Grinding his teeth together in frustration, he snapped, "I mean it, Sam. It'll cause nothing but chaos."_

_Her eyes flashed indignantly before she shoved him away from her. "Fine. Play your games if you want to," she snarled angrily as she strode back into the building._

_What game? He was dead serious about it. He ran a hand over his hand in a gesture of sheer weariness. And then, gritting his teeth, his hand snapped out and connected with the wall._

A low growl reached his ears, snapping him back to the present. "Let me up."

It was a warning, Alec noted. And from the look on her face, Max had no intention of asking twice. With a curt nod, he pushed himself off her and stood up.

"Don't hold back," Alec warned just before he pulled her up to her feet.

Max's eyes flickered slightly before they became shuttered again. "Won't dream of it." Stepping back from him, she readied herself for another round.

This time, he struck first. She jumped out of the way and returned with succession of jabs which he blocked with his arms. Their limbs continued to dance around each other, both trying to attack and defend at the same time.

Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. And hers too, he noticed absently as he twisted around into a crescent kick which connected with her arm. With a loud hiss, she staggered back, but did not slow down. She jumped forward and extended her arms, but he slapped her fist away. Too late, he realised that the move was feigned. Before he could dodge, her legs shot out towards his midsection.

He tensed for the hit. But when it contacted, the impact was barely discernible. Something was not right. She was still holding back, he thought angrily. How was he supposed to gauge her skills if she kept that up? He needed to know her level to be able to fit her in the unit.

What stumped him the most was the reason she was holding back. Why was she doing it? From their interaction so far, he would have thought that she would grab the chance to physically pound him to a pulp. She sure had no reservations about attacking him verbally.

What could he do to get her to react? To show him what she was capable of? Perhaps he should challenge her in another way. There must be something he could say to jar her enough so that she let loose. An idea came to him. Yes, he knew what he should do.

Smirking, he dived towards her feet. "That was just pathetic, Max. That's all you got?" he taunted loudly.

She did not reply. But to his satisfaction, her eyes narrowed while she sidestepped his sweeping foot.

He bounced and launched up in the air, coming down at her feet first. She twisted to the side, but one of his feet caught her shoulders, throwing her down to the ground.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Biggs shaking his head disapprovingly, a meaningful expression plastered over his face. No doubt the rest was also wondering what he was doing. But there was no time for him to explain to everyone why he was going all out on this. Ignoring his Second in Command, Alec returned his attention to Max. Holding back or not, he could tell that she was not happy at being thrown down.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Max," he remarked, adding a mocking tone to his voice for good measure.

She glared at him. "I'm just warming up."

Then he thought of the one thing that might get her to respond. It was going to be a low blow, but that was the only thing he could think of right now.

"Just warming up?" He laughed mockingly. "You're no good to us if that is the level of your skills. And I don't want this unit to end up like yours," he taunted as he watched her carefully, ignoring the sharp intakes of breaths from the rest of his unit.

Max froze visibly at his words.

Then her eyes hardened.

As their gaze connected, he could see flecks of gold in those brown eyes, making her appear almost feral. A slight shudder ran through him. No, it must be just the sun, he thought. Anyway, he was beginning to get to her, to shatter that control of hers, and that was all he cared about at the moment.

Suddenly, a blur came at him.

He raised his arms just in time to deflect a head-on collision with her fist. Before he could come up with a counterattack, she swept her legs up high and caught him on his shoulders. He stumbled to one side but quickly righted himself.

As she charged at him again, he caught sight of the wild gleam in her eyes. The gold flecks were still present, he noted. It was not a trick of the light. A fist glanced off his jaw, and he responded by delivering a hook punch to the side of her head. The blow connected hard, but she did not even flinch.

Something told him that she was no longer holding back. Her strikes came at him rapidly, and he found himself defending more often than attacking. Reluctantly, he admitted that she was doing a good job of cornering him.

Suddenly, something told him that this might not be such a good idea after all.

A jab found its way to his midsection. Inhaling sharply at the pain, he forced himself to ignore it. Then he sidestepped a sweeping kick from her and threw a fist which connected on her cheeks. Again, she did not seem to feel it.

What the hell was wrong with her? His knuckles stung from the hit but she did not even pause before she launched into another series of jabs. Alec blocked, and then forcefully grabbed one of her arms. Before she could extricate herself, he kicked and knocked her feet from under her.

She fell on her side and immediately rolled back into a standing position. Settling back into a neutral stance facing him. Angry red marks were beginning to be visible on her cheekbone and her jaw. Her arm sported an imprint of his fingers where he had grabbed her earlier. She had suffered a lot of damage, he realised. A shot of remorse coursed through him, but he pushed it down. This was no time to be distracted.

Her eyes flickered, telling him that she had something up her sleeves.

Alec braced himself.

She took a step forward, her gold-flecked eyes strangely expressionless. Two more quick steps followed. Then she launched herself off the ground and rotated into a mid-air cartwheel heading straight for him.

Alec's eyes widened for a second before he dove to his left to avoid the impending blow from her foot.

Then he saw a blur out of the corner of his eyes. An unexpected hit connected with his right shoulder, throwing him to the ground. Surprised gasps sounded around him. What the hell? The only way she could have hit him was to twist around at the last minute while she was airborne.

He looked up to find her staring at down at him with an expression of horror on her face. But why? She should be happy that she managed to floor him.

Biggs stepped forward onto the mat, a deep frown on his face. His Second-In-Command would no doubt challenge Max now, Alec thought wearily. Just what he needed, his entire unit defending him. He had no time for this. He had to figure out what had just happened just now, especially Max's unexpected reaction.

At Biggs' approach, Max's expression cleared.

Then the dark-haired X5 spoke. "Hey, Max, wanna share that move?"

Alec's jaw dropped in astonishment. _What the-?_

Ren joined Biggs, his grey eyes shining with curiosity. "Yeah, Max. How do you get that much power behind that twist?"

The rest gathered closer to the centre, leaving Alec alone outside the mat.

"Did you extend your body first or your legs? I didn't really catch that," Biggs questioned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He turned to Ren. "Did you get it?"

Suddenly noticing how quiet Max was, Ren asked, "Max? You okay?"

There was a slight hesitation before she replied quietly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You need to get some ice on your face," Laney pointed out, sounding concerned.

"No. It's okay," Max protested, shaking her head.

Glowering, Alec pushed himself up, brushing the dust from his clothes. "I'm just fine over here. No need to worry," he said sarcastically.

Looking back over her shoulders, Thena shook a dismissive hand at him, her red curls bouncing around her face. "Yeah, we know."

Alec stared at them, hardly believing what he was hearing. So much for being their CO. So much for worrying that they would hold it against Max for taking him down.

_Traitors._

* * *

Max found herself walking reluctantly along the walkway surrounded by the members of her new unit. She had tried to decline the offer but Unit 6, apart from a very quiet Alec, was persistent. Her excuse that she was not hungry and just wanted to go back for a nap had fallen on deaf ears. They had cajoled her until she finally gave in and agreed to join them for lunch.

She walked beside Thena, making sure that her face expressed nothing but interest in what the tall redhead had to say about the chefs in the kitchen.

Inwardly, however, she was still shaken over what she had come so close to doing during the sparring session. She had almost lost control, all because of some childish taunting. Alec had been trying to get her to stop holding back, that was all. She understood his intentions perfectly well. But his words had cut her deep. It had brought back to her the feeling of helplessness, the self-blame, the frustration of not knowing if her family was alright.

Everything she had been trying to forget.

Something had snapped when she heard his words. It was as if her consciousness had taken a step back, letting only her instinct take over the fight. She had watched herself attack Alec as if he was some faceless enemy.

This had not happened for a long time.

The last time had been when she was back in Wyoming. By then, most of them had shunned her anyway. But one went too far. The X5 she was sparring with had taunted her until she snapped and unleashed herself on him without restrain. Sandoval had been furious with her. And since then, the rest of the transgenics had kept an even warier eye on her.

If she had not regained her sanity just before that last hit connected with Alec, she doubted that she would be walking into the mess hall right now with Unit 6. Like the rest of them back in Wyoming, they probably would have given her the cold shoulder.

And she would have deserved it. However angry she was, she should have keep herself in control.

Her right cheek and her jaw throbbed from the blows Alec had inflicted on her. Her arm was also hurting, but she could not remember how it got hurt. She was so full of adrenaline that the pain did not even register until a short while ago. Bruises were going to form, she thought in resignation.

Unit 6 headed straight for the table at the end of the mess hall. Max's steps faltered at the roomful of transgenics, unsure how she should react. A part of her wanted to turn tail and run for the safety of her solitary room, but another part of her shook its head at her cowardice.

Because that was all it was, wasn't it? Cowardice. She was scared of receiving the same reactions as those in Wyoming. Even after she wrapped herself in layers of protective indifference and arrogance, the rejection had stung. She just never let it show. And somehow, along the way, she managed to convince herself that she did not care.

But she cared.

All it took was the kindness of this unit to break it down. All it took was for someone not to judge her harshly.

And the worst thing was, Max knew that all of this would disappear like smoke in a windy day if she did not manage to control that part of herself; her anger, her pain and everything that was consuming her ever since she had lost her own unit.

She found herself pushed into the seat sandwiched between the petite blonde-haired, blue-eyed Laney and a shaven X5 called Silt. Biggs took a seat opposite her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Alec dropping himself into a seat at the end of the table.

"So, how are you finding this so far?" Silt gestured around them. "Is this very different from Wyoming?"

Max took a moment to consider her reply. "The facilities are the same. But I think it's a little more… relaxed… here," she said quietly.

Silt grinned. "Hey, we're a relaxed bunch."

Thena swallowed a mouthful of food and turned to Biggs. "Say, you'll be partnering Max from now on, right?"

Biggs looked up. "I suppose so." Turning to Max, he added with a grin, "If that's okay with you, of course."

Smiling a little, Max nodded. She did not know any of them anyway, but she could do much worse than have a friendly partner like Biggs.

"It's kind of weird, sitting here talking to you," Laney said a little uncertainly.

Raising a questioning brow, Max asked curiously, "Why weird?"

Laney laughed awkwardly before she looked away. "Oh, Alec didn't tell you then."

"No," Max replied slowly, wondering what was coming next. She glanced down the table to find Alec stuffing his face, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.

Setting his fork down on the table, Biggs explained, "Well, there used to be thirteen of us in this unit. But about two years ago, we went on a mission and one of us didn't make it."

Max tensed. Yet another mission which had gone wrong, she thought darkly. She looked at the surviving members of the unit, wondering if they had ever recovered from their loss. Knowing that no words could do any good, she remained silent.

Silt added, "The one who didn't make it, her designation was 453. Sam."

Max heard the sound of metal clattering onto table just to find that it was her who had lost her grip on her knife.

_453?_

"453," she echoed numbly, her gaze fixed onto her plate. "453 as in…"

"Your twin," Biggs confirmed quietly.

That explained a lot, Max thought, remembering the shock on Alec's face when he had first seen her. Lydecker sure had a lot to answer to this time. Somehow, Max felt that this move of his was deliberate. But why? Lydecker knew how she felt about the demise of her own unit. And why do the same to Alec's unit as well? Why remind them of the one they had lost?

The dark haired Hispanic called Ren cleared his throat. "Well, this is one uncomfortable moment," he remarked, breaking the silence.

Wearing a worried expression, Laney turned to Max. "Hey, just so that you know. This doesn't make any difference to us, okay?"

"Yeah, we're a team," Silt added quickly.

Max glanced around at them, touched that they were actually trying to make her feel less uncomfortable. She understood how they must feel like she was the interloper, and yet, they still made that effort. It would not be unusual for them to think that she might try to take Sam's place.

But what about Alec? He had been silent through the entire conversation. What did he think?

Perhaps, as the CO, he felt responsible for Sam's demise. Perhaps to Alec, by being around, she would be a constant reminder of Sam. The way he was a constant reminder of Ben?

She debated whether to tell them about her own unit. And about Ben and Alec being twins. She looked down at her plate, watching as her knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on her fork and knife. If she started, she was sure that the questions would fly. Questions that she did not want to answer because it meant she had to live through it again.

She blinked. No. She was not strong enough to deal with it yet. It was still too raw. The wound was still fresh in her mind even when the physical ones had faded into the crisscrossing scars on her body.

"Max?" Biggs called out tentatively.

Max forced a smile onto her lips. "Yeah, we're a team," she said softly in reply to Silt's comment.

Alec was still keeping out of the conversation, she noted as she glanced again at him. She was sure that it was deliberate. Well, considering that the rest had extended their welcome, she guessed that she should attempt to make some effort at maintaining the peace as well. But how? It was not as if she was particularly good at these sorts of things.

As they stood up to leave the mess hall, she saw Alec walking off by himself. _Well, here goes nothing_, she thought resolutely.

When she caught up with him, she called out, "Alec?"

He slowed his steps, but did not look back at her. "Yeah?"

She hesitated. Then, drawing a deep breath, she said, "Laney told me about Sam."

She watched as he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, a gesture which betrayed his discomfort with the topic. Biting her bottom lip, she waited for his reaction.

"I see," he replied, his voice sounding a little strained.

She exhaled slowly before she continued, "I just want you to know that I understand if having me around feels weird."

She could see his eyes flicker uncertainly as he directed a surprised glance at her. Straightening her spine, she plowed on. "All I'm trying to say is that I'll try to not to make it worse."

There. She had said it, she thought, watching him silently.

He gave her an assessing look.

She was beginning to feel unnerved at his perusal when he finally said in a measured tone, "If you're as good as Lydecker said you are, then I'm sure we won't have any problems."

Her brow arched in surprise.

Tilting his head to one side, he gave her a smile. Her jaw dropped. This was the first time she had seen him smile like that, and it reminded her of how Ben used to smile at her. Her heart constricted painfully at the memory.

Then he sighed. "Come on. We need to put something on the bruises."

She shook her head. "No, I'm alright."

He frowned at her. "Are you always going to question my orders? I thought you just said that you'll try not to make things worse."

Max began to bristle, and then it sank in. He was right. There was no harm in applying a little bit of medicine on her bruises.

Relenting, she nodded. "Lead the way."

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: Things seem to be looking up, but for how long?:grins: I hope that you'll drop me a review to let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Ffnet has been weird lately…It has been giving problems with uploading and alerts and it's beginning to drive me potty! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Yes, a long one again…hehe. Thanks for all the reviews!

* * *

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**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 4 **

(by elle6778)

One month had passed since Max first set foot in the Seattle facility and she was beginning to settle in.

She was lucky to have been allocated into Unit 6. The members of the team seemed to genuinely care for each other. And they had been more than civil to her. She was not stupid. She realised that many of them went out of their way to make her feel welcomed. Especially her partner, Biggs. Having Biggs around was like having a good friend, a partner in crime. He was someone who kept her mind on the present, keeping her from dwelling too much on her past. And also someone who seemed to understand her enough not to push her or to demand too much from her.

Unlike another.

Her brows furrowed as she thought about her new CO.

But although he had never voiced it, Max had always felt he was expecting something from her. It was as if he wanted her to prove something to him. She was not sure if it was just her imagination, but he seemed to always watch her a little too closely for her comfort. Perhaps he was just doing his job as the CO, trying to monitor her progress and all. After all, he only had a month's worth of training to base his decisions on.

Talk about watching. Alec was not the only one who had been doing it. She had to admit that her attention had wandered to him on more than one occasion. Was it because he reminded her of Ben? But that was not entirely true. Yes, he resembled Ben in appearance, but in terms of personality, they were very different.

Ben had never been as forceful as Alec, but he had a sweeter disposition. A soft smile curved her lips. Ben had never said no to her, or tried to order her about. Perhaps that was why she had always felt closer to him than the rest of her unit. He had been her partner, the one she could always depend on. The one she shared everything with. Most of her first times had been with Ben.

Her heart constricted at the memories.

She tried so hard not to dwell on the past, but every time she thought she had succeeded, something always reminded her of those days. She knew that she had gaps in her memories, but what she could remember was enough to make her want to bury herself somewhere where nothing and no one could touch her.

She sighed wearily. Everything had been so jumbled up in her mind, those days had been like a nightmare which she could not wake up from. One day merged into another until she could not tell what was real and what was just a figment of her imagination.

Lost. It made her feel lost.

Resting her head against the wet tiled wall, she exhaled a shuddering breath.

The present. Think about the present, she told herself resolutely. What was she thinking about a second ago?

Alec.

Unsurprisingly, there was still that odd tension between them. But they seemed to have come to an unspoken understanding to remain civil to each other. Meaning that they did not communicate unless necessary. She had learnt in the first week that they seemed to rub each other up the wrong way, so unlike her interaction with the rest of the unit.

However, she had to admit that she had a grudging respect for him as a Commanding Officer. He was good at his job, keeping everyone motivated and dealing with things fairly. It was not hard to see why the rest looked up to him so much.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head up to the spray of the steamy water.

It could have been worse.

Things were definitely much better than she had expected it to be. The change of environment probably played a large part in it. Sandoval and Lydecker were right after all. They had figured that she would find it easier once she was away from Wyoming, where every little thing reminded her of her loss.

However, the nagging feeling of being restless and empty still remained within. She could not shake it off no matter what she tried. There was still something missing, but she just could not put her finger on it. It was nudging her subtly, like a reminder that she had forgotten something. But what?

She shrugged in resignation. Well, she could not possibly fix it if she did not know what was wrong.

A tap on her shoulders interrupted her contemplation and made her jump. Surprised, she almost lost her footing on the soapy floor until a pair of steadying hands clamped around her shoulders.

Startled, she swivelled around too fast and slipped again. Her hands shot out and grabbed the nearest thing she could find; a naked arm. Her eyes widened in alarm, realising whose arm it was, and then the both of them tumbled down in a heap to the floor. Wet skin slid against wet skin as she tried to grab something to stabilise herself.

She found herself lying face-up on the wet tiled floor, staring into a pair of shocked hazel eyes.

"Alec!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

He stared at her wordlessly, seemingly unable to speak. His breath tickled her face where he shaded her from the water spraying down from the shower.

She flushed, suddenly realising the intimate position they had managed to get themselves into. He had a hand behind her head, somehow managing to cushion her from impacting against the wall. Her breasts were flattened under his water-slicked chest. Their legs were tangled together with... She gulped when she realised what was pressing against her naked thigh.

She froze instantly.

Substantial was the word which suddenly came to mind. It reminded her of-

_NO! _She immediately admonished herself for her wayward thoughts. But her heart continued to beat faster than usual. He was still staring down at her with that unreadable expression. The stillness dragged on. Why was he not moving?

She swallowed, her eyes darting away and then back again to him. "Erm, Alec?"

He blinked and she watched his face redden slightly. "Sorry," he muttered gruffly before he pushed himself up.

"It's okay," she mumbled, holding her body stiffly.

He took a few steps back, his eyes not leaving her.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she quickly got to her feet and turned back to face the wall. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. The water continued to spray down like nothing was wrong. She suppressed the urge to snort. Nothing was wrong? She could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

Why the over-reaction anyway? It was not as if she had not seen him naked before. But she had never been in such close proximity with him in all his bare glory. A twinge of desire nudged her, and she quickly shoved it away.

No, she was not attracted to her CO. She could not be.

She hesitated mid-thought. Could she?

Why did he tap her shoulders anyway?

Without looking at him, she asked, "What is it?"

There was a short pause before he replied shortly, "The drain. It's stuck."

Max looked down. The water was rapidly pooling around her feet. The drain in her cubicle, which also served the adjacent shower stalls, was blocked. Somehow, lost in her thoughts, she had failed to notice it.

She bent over, reaching for the lid, and immediately heard a sharp intake of breath behind her.

Her hand stilled over the blocked lid and she blinked.

Her confusion only lasted a mere second before she understood why he had reacted the way he did. She felt her face grow hot in embarrassment. And then her hands fisted by her sides. Facing away from him, she could not tell for sure, but he must have been still looking at her when she bent down. It was not hard to guess what he must be thinking.

_Men!_ _Testosterone-filled creatures!_

She spun around and glowered at him, careful to keep her eyes on the top half of his body. "Nice view?" she asked icily.

His eyes snapped up to her face. Max saw a myriad of expressions crossing his face. Confusion flashed across his face followed by embarrassment and something else she could not place, before he blinked twice and the mask slammed down.

He raised an eyebrow. "What view? Sure you didn't think that I had my eye on you?" he retorted in a mildly bored voice.

She tensed, his subtle insult not lost on her. Anger, mingled with hurt, began to bubble to the surface, but she quickly squashed the feeling. Fine, she knew that with her scars and all, she was no beauty. But having it pointed out like that to her, subtle or not, still stung. It was not as if she asked to be marred by those unsightly lines. But there was just so much a transgenic body could take even with the enhanced healing capabilities.

She gritted her teeth. Anyway, could he not see that she wanted to be alone? Was it not obvious enough? This was the third time he had walked in on her pre-dawn ritual. The second time, they had barely said a word to each other. Those were the two other times they had been alone together.

Then she straightened her spine. Who cared what he thought anyway? It did not make her any weaker than the rest. She could still hold her own against anyone who tried to cross her.

Yes, she felt angry and hurt, but she was not going to let him have the satisfaction of seeing that his taunt had hit home.

"Then do you mind not staring this way?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice as she presented her back to him.

A derisive snort sounded. "Staring? Hardly."

"Really? Could have fooled me."

"You're imagining things, Max." His voice was flat.

She turned to look over her shoulders to find him still standing there. Quirking an eyebrow, she remarked, "Then I'm sure you have better things to do than to stand there gawking."

She saw a flash of annoyance on his face before he turned abruptly. A few second later, the shower in the stall next to hers started to pour.

"I was just wondering if you needed help with the drain," he said quietly. "We don't want to flood the place."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she studied him. Was he serious? It suddenly occurred to her that maybe she was just seeing and hearing things that were not there, interpreting them in the wrong way. After all, Alec had shown no sign that he saw her in _that_ manner. Perhaps she just overreacted. Perhaps her hormones were out of whack.

"I think I can manage," she said carelessly.

She bent down again, relieved that this time she was hidden from his view by the tiled wall separating them. The second she pulled up the lid, the water began to rush into the hole. Removing the clump of hair which had unknowingly caused so much tension, she replaced the lid and straightened.

She heard him clear his throat. "Look, it was an accident," he said flatly.

Straightening, she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, "I know. It's no big deal."

His eyes were fixed to the wall. "Good. Then we'll have no problems."

"Good," she echoed tightly.

* * *

Wall mounted open shelves lined the two sides of the room there were in. Weapons of all descriptions were hung off brackets on the shelves in tidy rows with a small label underneath. There was a sharp scent of metal and gunpowder in the air which could only come from recently discharged weapons.

Alec was seated at a long bench between Ren and Silt, opposite Biggs. A number of guns and knives were laid out on the table in front of them.

As the door to the armoury opened, Alec's gaze automatically went to it. His heart sank a little when Laney stepped in with a handful of scourers and a new bottle of oil.

Where was Max?

Alec lowered the gun he had been taking apart and sighed. No one had seen her at breakfast and she was still absent. If she did not turn up soon, questions would fly.

He looked around. There were already some questioning looks being passed around. He knew that most of them genuinely liked her. His worry that she would disrupt the unit was a complete waste of time. Max had been doing fine. More than fine considering what she had been like when he first met her. Although she was still a little distant, he could see that she was beginning to integrate nicely into the unit.

He had to admit that the rest of the unit, not him, deserved the credit for slowly dragging her out of her shell. Somehow it was harder for him. He could not seem to let go enough to be himself with her. There was something holding him back. Something which refused to allow him to lower his barriers fully.

He knew that he had reacted like an idiot in the showers.

After what he had said to her, who could blame her if she decided not to turn up for this? Or any other thing from now on, for that matter?

Alec groaned inwardly.

His only excuse was the shock of having her curves pressed like that against his naked flesh. Damn it, he was a red-blooded male. How else could he react? His entire brain had decided to give way to his hormones as he stood and stared when she bent over.

Then his smart mouth had to come up with such a cheap shot.

He should not have said what he had said to her. That flash of hurt in her eyes had been real, and he felt bad about it. But somehow, he could not bring himself to apologise the second time round. He knew that if he did, she would just rub it in his face. But still, was he so full of himself that he could not deal with that?

What the hell was wrong with him?

"Alec?"

He shut his eyes briefly, preparing himself for the barrage of questions. "What's up, Biggs?"

"Where's Max?" Biggs asked quietly.

He looked up to find the other X5 staring at him curiously. "I don't know," he replied.

"She wasn't in her room earlier. Does she know we're supposed to be here?" Biggs sounded worried.

Alec debated if he should confide in Biggs. Finally he shrugged and continued to inspect the gun chamber. "Maybe she's just a little late."

Biggs frowned.

Suddenly Alec wondered if Biggs knew about what happened that morning. But how? The only way he could have known was for Max to tell him, but then Biggs would know where she was.

"Something wrong?" Alec ventured carefully.

Bigg's eyes flickered, and then he said brightly. "What? No, nothing's wrong." Then he sobered up. With a resigned sigh, he continued, "Actually, I'm just worried that she might be withdrawing."

"Withdrawing?"

Biggs nodded. "Yeah. Back to the way she was when she first got here."

The gun in his hand suddenly felt heavy, and Alec placed it carefully on the table in front of him. "I don't know," he said honestly.

Ren frowned. "I hope not. It took weeks for us to get to this point."

The door suddenly opened, and to Alec's relief, Max ran in breathlessly. She glanced around, her eyes completely skipping over him before they landed on Biggs. Alec fought down a twinge of annoyance at her blatant action.

With a small smile, she headed to their table. "Sorry I'm late. Lost track of time," Max said apologetically, pushing her hair out of her face.

She smelled like she had just been outdoors, Alec noted.

"Been working out?" Ren asked.

Max nodded as she took the empty seat beside Biggs. "Assault course."

She always took it out on the assault course when she was upset about something, Alec thought, surprising himself with that knowledge. He did not realise that he knew her habits so well.

Keeping his voice level, he asked, "Was it a good run?"

Her attention pinned on the black gun in her hand, she did not look up when she replied, "It was okay."

He tried again. "Anything like the one in Wyoming?"

She instantly stilled, her hands suspended in mid-air as she reached for the nearest gun.

Alec groaned inwardly. _Great going. Remind her of Wyoming and her decimated unit, won't you, Alec? _

Biggs laughed, the hint of discomfort in his voice evident. "I bet it's better over here. Those Wyoming guys don't know what they're doing."

Max swivelled around, an affronted look on her face. "Hey! Watch what you're saying." But there was no seriousness in her voice.

Ren grinned. "One day, we'll have a competition."

Alec raised his eyebrows. Challenging Max, he found, was a sure-fire way to get one-self kicked. Ren would not know what hit him.

Max's eyes gleamed. "What's the prize?"

Ren leaned forward in anticipation. "Loser gives up a day out, winner gains one."

Whenever they were not on an assignment, they were each allocated twenty-four hours out per week. Alec knew that Ren had used up all of his, but in the last four weeks, Max had not ventured a step out of the facility. No doubt, this was Ren's way of buying her accumulated time from her.

With a grin, Alec interjected, "Ren, if you lose, someone from Unit 1 is going to have your head." Ren had been seeing an X5 called Sri from the other unit.

Ren grimaced for a moment before he brightened up again. "I won't."

Max tapped her fingers against the table, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"I bet Sri would have something to say about this," Biggs said with a laugh. "Don't you have regular dates with her?"

"Who's Sri?" Max asked curiously.

"Ren's girl," Silt replied. "Who's going to be really pissed off when Ren fails to turn up for their date."

Ren gave him an irritated look. "Some support would be nice."

Alec laughed as he patted Ren on the back encouragingly. "I'm sure you'd do fine," he said, lying through his teeth. He had seen Max on the assault course, and he was not sure if Ren could beat the newcomer.

"So, when's the run?" Biggs asked with a grin.

Ren looked at Max questioningly. "After this session?"

Max nodded casually. "Sure."

When they finished inspecting and cleaning the weapons for the day, Unit 6 moved out of the armoury and headed for the assault course.

With a brief sideways glance to make sure that Ren was still occupied with Silt and Biggs teasing, Alec slackened his pace until Max caught up with him.

Obviously still bent on ignoring him, she displayed no sign that she detected his presence, even though he was right beside her.

"Listen, Max…" he started.

She tensed. "What is it?" she asked flatly, so unlike the tone she had used earlier with the others.

Alec clamped down the sudden urge to shake her. How long was she going to let the shower incident cloud their interactions? Keeping his voice even, he continued, "Ren can't afford to lose another day."

Max halted in her tracks and finally looked at him. "I know," she said wryly. "I have no intention of winning this. What am I going to do with so many free days anyway?"

Taken aback, Alec just stared at her wordlessly. She was already planning to give up a day to Ren?

As he stared on incredulously, Max smirked smugly, obviously taking some joy in his speechlessness. "We're a team, right?" she said, walking away from him.

The assault course run took only fifteen minutes. After that time, Ren emerged from the last course grinning ear to ear as he punched his fists in the air.

As the rest of Unit 6 patted Ren on the back, Alec searched for Max.

When their eyes met, time suddenly suspended.

And then she gave him an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement. It was the first time he felt a bond of shared secret with her.

* * *

The projector threw a picture of a desert on the screen.

"Desert manoeuvres, as I expect all of you to know by now, are often made difficult by the dust and the heat. The desert breeze often stirs up the sand, making it difficult to gauge distances even with your enhancement," the drill sergeant said by way of introduction to the new topic.

"The only way to cope with this is through prolonged exposure in the environment. Now, it's impractical to keep sending you all out to a desert regularly, so you'll have to manage with just the simulation. This would be your assignment tomorrow."

The desert, Max thought numbly. As far as she was concerned, she had had enough exposure to that damned place. And if she could help it, the desert was the last place she wanted to find herself at again.

Ever.

But she could not help revisiting it in her mind.

_She cracked open her eyes slowly. Her blurry vision was further impaired by the cloud of red dust swirling in the air. She tried to move, but immediately groaned when her muscles and bones protested violently against the strain. Her head felt like it was splitting into two. _

_Something had her pinned to the ground. It was a section of a stone column. She glanced around, and then her eyes widened in horror. _

_"No…" she croaked, suddenly anxious to get up. She recognised the mop of blonde hair belonging to Zack near her. He was lying facedown under the column with his legs crossed over hers. _

_"Zack?" She tried to move her leg to nudge him to no avail. _

_He remained still. _

_She scanned the area desperately, hoping to see some signs of life. Everything looked hazy to her but she managed to make out the blood splattered bodies were strewn all over the ruins amidst the crushed stones. With mounting horror, she could tell from the black colour of the clothes that those bodies belonged to her unit. _

_"Tinga? Ben?" she tried to call out. But her voice came out weak and tremulous. _

_One by one, she spoke their names, but none of the bodies moved. _

_"No, please wake up!" she choked out, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. _

_Then her ears picked up the sound of a chopper in the distance. _

_There were here, she thought in relief. Manticore's back-up team was here to pick them up. Everything would be alright. They were transgenics, they were design to cope with a lot. They would be fine once the chopper got them back to the base. _

_Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over her. _

"Max!"

"MAX!"

She jumped, started by Bigg's voice. He was standing over her, the sun behind him casting his shadow over her.

She swallowed hard, banishing the memories from her mind and making sure that nothing of her memories showed on her face before she glanced up.

"What?"

He gave her a bewildered look. "You were miles away." He gestured around the empty room. "Everyone left and you're still sitting there."

"Oh. I was just thinking about the simulation," she said vaguely, hoping that he would not catch the evasive tone in her voice.

To her relief, Biggs brightened in excitement. "It's going to be great, don't you think? I can't wait to get into it. The sim is a new one."

She gave him a weak smile as she stood up. "Uh, yeah," she replied as they walked out of the room.

He turned around to face her with a look of concern. "You don't look too happy about it."

Stepping down the hallway, Max shook her head, exhaling slowly. "Not my kind of thing."

"Well, maybe you'd grow to like it. It takes time to get used to," Biggs offered helpfully.

"I doubt it," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

Alec jack-knifed up in his bed, his senses on full alert.

Something woke him up. Something which made his heart race erratically. An alarm?

Then he heard it again.

A raw scream of sheer anguish. It was animalistic; a sound which sent an uncontrollable shiver down his spine. Who was it?

Alec jumped to his feet and rushed out of his room to find Biggs dashing to the cell next to his. Max, Alec thought in apprehension. Something had happened to her.

An image flashed across his eyes; Sam trying to scream through the blood in her mouth.

_No! Snap out of it, Alec! This is Max, not Sam,_ he told himself harshly as he dashed to the end of the corridor to join Biggs. As he ran past, a few other cell doors opened.

"What's going on?" Laney asked, as she reached Max's door.

A tousled looking Ren frowned as he joined them. "Is Max okay?"

"Max?" Alec called out, rapping on the door. A soft whimper filtered through the door. A nightmare. She must be having a nightmare, he realised. "We're coming in, Max," he announced resolutely.

Biggs tried to open the door, but it refused to budge. "What the hell?" he muttered in confusion.

Frowning, Alec tried the door. It was locked. "WHO locked the door?" he asked, furious.

Eyes wide in surprise, Thena remarked uncertainly, "She must have locked it herself."

"What the hell did she do that for?" Alec snarled in annoyance. He needed to get in to see if she was alright.

Another agonised scream ripped through the air, its intensity making them wince. It went deathly silent for a while, and then the choking sobs begun. The sound was heartbreaking.

Alec turned to see a misty-eyed Laney sniffing. "We've got to wake her up," she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Max!" Biggs yelled loudly. "Come on, girl, we know you can hear us! You've got to wake up," he urged firmly.

Thena banged on the door loudly in frustration. "Damn it! Can't we break the door open?"

Alec shook his head. "Did you forget that these were originally designed to keep us in?" He kicked the door hard. "Max! Wake up! This is an order, soldier!" he commanded loudly.

Silence.

"Max, open the door," Alec rapped out firmly.

All of them strained to hear through the door.

And then Alec heard a slight sound of shuffling from the other side, followed by soft footsteps.

Biggs held his finger to his lips. "Listen…" After a pause, he ventured gently, "Max? You okay in there?"

A muffled sniff filtered through the door. Unconsciously, Alec held his breath.

"Yeah. I'm okay," a quiet voice mumbled.

Alec noted that her voice sounded raw, but he guessed that was to be expected considering her screams. "Open the door, Max," he ordered sternly, wanting to see for himself that she was alright.

There was a short pause before she replied, "Honestly, I'm okay. I'm sorry I woke you all up. Go back to bed."

"Max…" Alec started, his voice carrying a tone of warning.

Biggs laid a hand on his arm, shaking his head slowly as he mouthed, _no_.

Alec gave his Second in Command an incredulous look. "Biggs…" he started.

Biggs interjected quietly. "Let me deal with this."

"But, Biggs, she's…" Thena started.

"Biggs…" Alec said at the same time.

"No. Go back to bed," Biggs insisted, flicking Alec a look of mute appeal.

What was Biggs planning to do? Alec frowned thoughtfully at his Second in Command. Biggs was telling him wordlessly with his eyes to trust him on this. Finally relenting, Alec sighed and gestured to the rest of them gathered around the door to return to their cells. And then, with a curt nod to Biggs, he spun around on his heels and headed back to his cell.

Curious about how Biggs was going to gain access to Max's cell, he fought the urge to look back as he travelled down the corridor. When he reached his cell, he stepped in and pushed the door, leaving it slightly ajar. Then he sat on his bunk, listening as the other cell doors clicked shut. He heard Bigg's voice in the distance. The guy was trying to talk to Max. Alec guessed that if anyone could get through to her, it would be Biggs considering they had been training together and growing closer for the couple of months.

A few minutes of hushed conversations went by before Alec heard a door being unlocked. And then, with a subtle squeal, the door shut again.

Max had finally relented and let Biggs in, he realised.

Alec settled down on his bunk, pillowing the back of his head on his crossed arms. Blinking at the ceiling, he wondered what could have triggered Max's nightmare. He has his own share of nightmares to understand well enough how vivid and traumatising some of them could be. Normally, it would have been triggered by something.

At least Biggs was there with her now. With luck, she would even tell Biggs what was bothering her.

A small voice inside him protested. Why Biggs and not him? He was the CO wasn't he? She was supposed to trust him enough to confide in him, right?

Alec sighed in resignation. No, Max would probably shoot herself in the foot before she ever confided in him.

He was reminded again of how different Sam and Max were. Sam used to confide in him. Sam used to tell him everything, even things that he would rather she kept to herself.

He still remembered the day she had dropped the bombshell on him. All the signs had been there, but he had chosen to ignore it. So much that he had even managed to convince himself that there was nothing there.

They had been eighteen, three years ago, when Sam had told him that she had feelings for him. Not the sort of brotherly-sisterly feeling, but something more. Unsure how to react, he had simply laughed it off. Now that he thought about it, that was probably not the right thing to do. But she had been persistent to the point of making him feel acutely uncomfortable on the subject.

He closed his eyes. Memories of Sam always stirred up all sorts of things that he would rather forget. He knew that he should not have said certain things to her, or reacted in the way he had. It always gave him this sour taste in his throat whenever he thought about it. And it always filled him with an all-consuming feeling of guilt.

Exhaling loudly, he glanced at his watch. An hour had passed since Biggs had entered Max's cell, but there had been no sign that the other transgenic had left.

Alec wondered if he should go and see if they were alright.

And then something occurred to him.

Perhaps they were closer than he had realised. What if he walked in on something? He quickly banished the unbidden image of Max and Biggs writhing naked in bed. Somehow, the idea of Max and Biggs being a couple did not sit well with him. Something about it seemed wrong.

Or perhaps he wished that it was _him_ but not Biggs who was in that position? But why should he? He had no such inclination when it came to Sam, so why should he feel any differently towards Max?

_Because they were different, damn it! _

Alec groaned in frustration. What the hell was he thinking? Sam or Max, it did not matter. He should not be thinking of Max in that manner anyway. Aside from the fact that she was Sam's twin, which in itself should be good enough a reason to avoid any form of entanglement, she had also shown no hint of affection towards him.

_Get a grip, Alec_, he scolded himself sternly.

No, he would not think about this anymore. Max and Biggs could do whatever they liked.

It had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: Of course it had nothing to do with Alec at all, right:grins evilly: Thanks for reading and it'll make me very happy if you review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: FFnet has been fine for a few days now, lol! I wonder how long that will last. I replied to your reviews and hope I've answered your questions. For those who didn't sign in or leave an email – 'kim', 'a reader', 'JG' and 'cassie' – thanks for reviewing.

Onwards to the story. This is going the longest chapter yet…so get comfortable!

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 5**

(by elle6778)

"_No!" she protested vehemently as she was yanked up roughly and tossed over the shoulders of one burly militant like a sack of flour._

_She tried to kick out, but found to her dismay that every little motion was a struggle. All she could do was to watch as the militant's boots kicked up clouds of dust as he raced across the desert._

_They were heading towards an open-top jeep, Max realised with trepidation. The familiar sound of the chopper was getting closer, she could hear, but it was probably still too far for them to see her. No, she was not going to let the militants take her. Not when help was so close._

_The second her back landed on the hot, hard surface of the back of the jeep, she tried to roll herself off. Desperation fuelled her body, allowing her to move in spite of her multiple injuries._

_She did not get far._

_A fist slammed into her face, breaking the tender skin inside her mouth. As her own blood filled her mouth, she glared at the scowling militant. _

_Then she spat._

_The frothy red spit connected with the militant's face. She could see the rage in his eyes before he snarled in some foreign language, gesturing at her. _

_The man at the front of the jeep turned back to look at them and said something in an eerily calm voice. The militant near her gritted his teeth and pulled out a dirty piece of cloth from his pocket. As she grimaced in disgust, he tied the cloth over her eyes, obviously to prevent her from seeing where they were going. _

_And then she felt a violent impact against her skull before she passed out again._

_The darkness swirled around her like a thick, viscous ink. She could not breathe. Her lungs felt constricted and her limbs felt like they were no longer a part of her. With great difficulty, she forced her eyes open to be greeted by more darkness._

_The blindfold. _

_They had tied a cloth around her eyes to prevent her from seeing where they were going, Max thought, her fury mounting. The jarring movement under her told her that they were still on the road. How long had she been out? How far from the ruins had they travelled? Where were the rest of her unit?_

_She tried to swallow, but her mouth felt like it was filled with dry sand. There was a coppery tang in her mouth. Blood, she thought absently. She tried to move her hands, but they were numb either from being tied together so tightly or because of her injuries._

_The vehicle stopped suddenly, throwing her to one side. She let out an involuntary groan as her injured shoulders hit the side of the jeep._

_She could hear some commotion around her. They were speaking in a language she could barely understand. Some dialect of the Middle East, she guessed with mounting fear. It probably meant that she was in the hands of the very people that Manticore had aimed to destroy. As injured as she was, it was going to be hard for her to escape._

_She felt herself yanked off the jeep and tossed to the ground. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself not to cry out at the pain of being dragged up by her injured shoulder. They prodded at her with something hard, the barrel of a gun probably, and kicked her forward until her senses told her that they reached some place indoors. Each step felt forced, her weakened body pushed beyond its limits._

_The whole thing felt surreal, like it was happening to someone else. Like it was a bad dream._

_Blindly, she staggered on for a few more minute, before she heard a door slam behind her, the reverberations echoing around her. Her mind replayed her steps back to her, allowing her to reassure herself that she would be able to get out once she healed a little. There was no way she was going to be able to make it out in her present condition._

_Provided of course, that she was still alive to even attempt it._

_She knew what they wanted. The militants would no doubt want to know who ordered the attack on their headquarters. But she was not going to tell them and start an international incident. _

_She heard the rattling of some chains just before she felt herself hit a cold, grimy wall. To her dismay, her legs gave out under her, letting her slide bonelessly down to the ground. She tried to struggle, but her limbs refused to obey her orders. Before she could pick herself up, she found herself pulled up and her wrists and ankles shackled to the wall. _

_The blindfold was ripped roughly from her face, allowing her to see for the first time in who knew how long. She blinked, but everything around her seemed hazy and blurred. There were three dark figures in front of her, but she was unable to focus long enough to make out their features. Her head sagged down, the effort of holding it up seemed too much all of a sudden._

_One of them spoke harshly in a heavily accented voice. "Tell me who you work for."_

"_No one," she croaked._

_A fist slammed against her jaw, flinging her head back painfully. Blood spurted out of her mouth and her head spun. Her lips parted, but no sound came out._

"_I ask again. Who you work for?" _

_Not wanting to let them see the trepidation she was feeling, she smirked. The movement hurt her jaw, but she managed it anyway. The one who spoke came closer to her, so close that she could actually make out the evil gleam in his eyes. Her fear spiked. What was he going to do to her?_

_He grasped her chin roughly, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You are stubborn," the man said coldly. His face was close to hers. Too close. Her overly sensitive sense of smell revolted at the stink of his breath. Glancing over his shoulders, he shouted something at the other two men._

_Unable to focus for long, her mind wandered off randomly as her eyes fluttered shut. Did any of her family survive? She did not remember sensing any of them near her. Perhaps they were in another room. Surely it was not just her? Or maybe Manticore had arrived before these guys managed to get the rest?_

_She felt herself being roughly shaken awake. Blinking, she opened her eyes. Someone was standing in front of her holding something in his hand._

_Then it began._

_The first lash hit her suspended arm. She hissed in pain, but refused to scream. They were going to torture the information out of her, but she had been trained to resist this. She could take what they dished out._

_The air around her sifted just a moment before the second lash impacted her midsection with a loud thwack. Swallowing a scream of pain, she tried desperately to remember what she was meant to do in these sorts of situations. But her mind refused to cooperate._

_The sound of the whip slicing through the air reached her ears again. Her legs buckled under the impact. Still, she refused to scream._

_The fourth, fifth and sixth lash came in rapid succession. And after that, she stopped counting. She could not think past the pain in her body. Her entire skin felt like it was on fire. She locked her screams inside, swallowing them, not letting them escape past her lips._

_It was all she could do._

_She did not know how long it lasted. The blows seemed endless as the mocking laughter echoed in her ears._

_Finally, she let out a small whimper._

With an agonised groan, Max broke away from her memories. She shut her eyes briefly, trying to dislodge the horrifying images from her mind. It was useless. They kept coming back to haunt her. Every time she thought that she had it under control, it came back to torture her.

She could not remember how long it had taken for her to regain consciousness once she was back in Manticore. But when she had awoken, she had been bombarded with questions. She had answered some, painfully reliving the memories, but some, she just could not answer.

That was how she had came to the conclusion that part of her memories were missing. Something nagged at her, telling her that it was important. But what could it be? All her attempts at trying to regain those missing parts had only resulted in more nightmares.

She supposed that Lydecker and Sandoval could have sent her Psy-Ops to help deal with those nightmares. Max snorted inwardly. There was no way she was going to let Psy-Ops mess with her memories, taking away what she remembered of Unit 2. That was all she had left of her family, and she intended to keep it that way. Even if it meant that she had to deal with the nightmares.

Strangely enough, Lydecker and Sandoval did not even mention Psy-Ops at all.

"Max?" Biggs finally ventured softly.

She lifted her eyes to find Biggs watching her, concern etched over his handsome features. They were sitting on her bed, both deep in their own thoughts. She had hesitated over the decision to let him in, but Biggs had been persistent. But at least it was only him and not the entire unit. She had heard him telling them to leave, and for that, she was grateful. In her state, she was in no condition to greet a large group.

"It's nothing, Biggs. Just bad dreams."

Biggs nodded slightly and placed a hand over hers. "Get them often?"

Looking down at his larger hand enveloping hers, she shook her head mutely. It was strange that she did not feel like pulling away. Maybe she needed more human contact than she had realised. A bitter smile graced her lips.

"You shouldn't lock your door like that," he chastised her gently.

"It's safer," she replied quietly.

His brows shot up. "For what? And why?"

She hesitated, unsure whether she should tell him. Finally, with a sigh, she relented. "For you all. The dreams… they've caused problems before."

"Back in Wyoming?"

Turning away from him, her eyes adopted a faraway look. "I never used to lock the door. But once, I had a dream. When I finally came to my senses, I was holding a guy, a member of my unit at that time, against the wall. I had beaten him up so bad that he was pronounced unfit for assignments for the next one week," she finished, her disgust with her own actions unhidden.

There was a moment of silence before Biggs spoke. "Hey, it's not _that_ easy to take us down, you know?" he joked lightly.

She gave him a pained smiled. "Still…I don't think I want to take the risk."

He looked thoughtful. "Now that you've told me, I could be more careful. I'll just prod you awake from a safe distance. With a pole or something."

Max felt her lips twitch. Biggs attempt at making her feel better was actually working. And he had not shied away from her.

Yet.

What about the rest? They were bound to be curious. Max sighed, wondering how she should tell them. She felt like she owed it to them.

"It is okay if I tell the rest?" Biggs asked carefully. "Locking the door is not a good idea, by the way. Makes us think that you're locking us out. Very antisocial, you know."

Max gave him a sharp look, the gentle admonishment not lost on her.

Biggs raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you say?"

Closing her eyes briefly, she nodded wordlessly.

* * *

The warm summer months slowly faded, giving way to a colder, crispier autumn. Leaves began to flutter off the trees surrounding the facility, littering the ground with a carpet of yellow, orange and brown.

Almost three months had passed since she had joined Unit 6, the thought flitted through Max's mind as she headed towards Lydecker's room. Now, it seemed that they finally would go on an assignment. She was surprised that it took so long for Lydecker to assign them a job.

She was looking forward to it. Looking forward to getting out there. She missed having the adrenaline pumping through her veins, her legs pumping the ground, stretching her skills and taking down the bad guys.

But a part of her still feared. The part which remembered the way her old unit had been scattered lifelessly around the ruins. She blinked and strengthened her resolve. She was not going to let the same thing happen to her new unit, she vowed fiercely.

And provided the new assignment was not in a desert, she would be fine.

She lifted a hand and knocked on Lydecker's door. At his call to enter, she opened the door and went in.

"You wanted to see me?"

Looking up at her from his seated position, Lydecker nodded. "I take it you heard about the mission."

"Yeah." She hesitated for a beat before she asked cautiously, "It's not a desert run, is it?"

Lydecker shook his head. "Far from it." He stood up and walked towards her. "How are things going?"

Max frowned at the uncharacteristic question. "It's okay," she replied warily.

He looked into her eyes. "Your unit treating you well?"

She nodded. "They're good."

Lydecker looked thoughtful. "Nightmares still bothering you?"

Max sighed. "Don't they always?"

"Do you remember anything else?"

She shrugged. "No. Just the same old ones." Giving Lydecker a suspicious look, she asked, "What's going on? Why all the questions?"

"I'm just concerned about your wellbeing." He quirked an eyebrow, but the innocent look on his face did not fool her. The man was up to something, she could tell.

"What is it, Deck?"

Sighing, he returned to his desk and shook his head. "I told you. It's nothing. We have a briefing in a short while. You should head to the briefing room."

He changed the subject. Frowning deeply, Max deliberated whether she should push the issue. And then, noting the uncompromising look on Lydecker's face, she relented and gave him a curt nod.

Stepping out of the door, she realised that this was not the first time she had been asked those questions. Sandoval had occasionally prodded her about it when she had been based in Wyoming. It was odd, she thought as she made a beeline towards the briefing room.

When she finally arrived, she found that a few of her unit was already there. The small, windowless room has a projector up front. It was already running in anticipation of their arrival. Her eyes locked with Alec's briefly before she took her usual seat beside Biggs.

She twisted around when Biggs nudged her side and pointed to the screen. "Looks like we're heading for the tropics," he remarked happily.

Her eyes went to the front of the room, noting a map of South-East Asia projected onto the white screen. At that point, the rest of the unit turned up.

"Looks like it," she replied.

Biggs rubbed his hands in glee. "Hope we're going to be staying in a good hotel."

"We're going on a mission, Biggs," Alec pointed out dryly from the other side of Biggs. "And knowing Lydecker, he'd probably make us camp in the rainforest."

Max suppressed a grin at Biggs deflated expression. "Cheer up," she said, nudging him lightly.

"Tropics with no air conditioning," Biggs sighed dejectedly. Then he looked at her beseechingly. "Perhaps you'd care to share a sleeping bag with me, you know, to keep me safe from the tigers."

Max gave him a light punch. "There won't be any tigers," she retorted, purposely skipping over the sleeping bag part.

Biggs had taken to making these sorts of comments lately, and she did not know what to make of it. Was he joking, or was he trying to tell her something? Biggs by nature was the easygoing, lighthearted type, which made it even harder for her to tell if he was serious.

Yeah, like it was any easier to read her CO. Alec was just as bad. Come to think of it, Alec possessed the same sort of character, but it was tempered by something. She could only catch glimpses of the carefree Alec on rare occasions. Perhaps being a CO made him feel as if he should control himself more than the others.

She shook herself inwardly. For a while now, for some unknown reason, she had been prone to falling into these musing sessions on Alec. Was it because of Ben? Was it because she missed her family and Alec looked like Ben?

She had to stop thinking about him. It got her nowhere and every time she associated Ben with Alec, she felt the approach of a headache.

The door opened. Lydecker stepped in and nodded at them. Picking up the controls, he began to outline the mission.

* * *

The extraction mission was simple.

Two expatriates from the States had been captured by the opposition militant group not only for ransom, but to create enough chaos in the already shaky governing body of the small South-East Asia country. From the intel provided by the ruling government, who was unable to do anything without jeopardising their own backsides, Manticore learnt that the opposition was holding the two expatriates deep in the forest.

Unit 6 would be based on a small, private resort owned by one of Manticore's sub-firms. The resort was close enough to the rainforest hideout occupied by their target. Alec already had it all planned and had ran his strategies past Brain. With the Battle Processor Unit's approval, they were all set to go. All they had to do now was to finish packing, Alec thought as he glanced at the rest of his unit in the Armoury.

They were picking their own choices of weapons, inspecting each with practiced ease. Alec's eyes automatically went to Max, as they tended to do of late, whether consciously or otherwise.

Biggs, again, was glued to her side, pointing out the pros and cons of each weapon. Alec grimaced. He was sure that Max did not need her Second in Command to tell her which weapon to use. Her training and mission data sheets had told him confirmed that she was more than capable of selecting the appropriate weapons.

And Biggs knew it, simply because he was there when Alec had gone through Max's technical background when they were strategising. The guy was obviously more than smitten with Max, Alec thought, trying to push away the feeling of disgruntlement at the idea.

"Biggs," he called out sharply.

Biggs snapped around to look at him questioningly. "Yeah?"

Alec tossed him a file. "Can you fill in the weapons sign-out?"

Biggs caught the file. Looking down, he frowned. "But that's Thena's-"

"She's busy," Alec interjected quickly, gesturing at Thena, who was sitting at the bench inspecting her guns.

Wearing a mildly puzzled expression, Biggs just shrugged and moved away from Max.

Turning his attention back to his own packing, Alec busied himself loading his backpack with the necessary items. It was not long before his eyes homed in on Max again. Surprise flashed across his face when he noted what she was packing.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked as he followed her movements. Why was she stuffing so many grenades in the backpack?

The rest of them paused and looked on curiously. Max carried on as if nothing was out of place.

"Getting prepared," she replied without looking at him, her absent tone grating on his nerves.

Alec scowled. He knew they were not best friends, but the least she could do was to look at him when she spoke to him. Then he stopped his thoughts short. Come to think of it, she had been doing that. Just not today. It seemed to him that the closer they approached the assignment, the more withdrawn she was becoming.

"Gee, Max. It's not like we're going into a war zone or something," Ren commented in an uncertain voice. "We're up against a small group of pissed off politicians."

"I'm sure they have back-up," Max said flatly.

Alec stepped next to her, his hand stilling hers as she was about to drop another grenade into the bag. "Ren has a point. We've got guns and a couple of grenades each. That should be enough."

Max looked up at him. "How sure are we that it's not going to turn out like a war zone?" she asked calmly.

Taken aback, Alec just stared at her for a second before he managed to reply. "Well, the intel suggests nothing of that sort."

Max snorted. "Yeah, and the intel's _always_ accurate, isn't it?"

Frowning, Thena laid a hand on Max's arm. Alec's eyes narrowed as Max froze at the touch. And then he relaxed when he saw the apologetic look Max gave to the other X5. Good, she did not hurt Thena's feelings.

"Max, the extra grenades will weigh us down," Thena said, concerned.

"The extra grenades might save our lives," Max said firmly.

Biggs held out his hands. "Hey, it's only a couple more grenades each, right? It's no big deal," he said with a forced laugh.

"Yeah," Alec muttered uncertainly. Was she being extra cautious because of what had happened to her unit? He looked her over, noting the tense line of her shoulders. That must be why she had been behaving stranger than usual today.

Max sighed heavily. "Look. It's just an extra precaution, alright?"

"Why not bring the rocket launcher as a precaution as well," Ren grumbled good-naturedly. "Wipe out the entire place with one blow."

Max pointed at a black box which contained the rocket launcher. "Yeah, that as well," she said deadpanned.

Ren stilled, his eyes bugging out. "What?"

Alec watched with surprise when Max's lips curved. "Just kidding."

Biggs grinned. "Hey, you're developing a sense of humour."

Max glowered at him. "What are you trying to say, Biggs?"

As they began to bicker lightly, the rest joined in, breaking the tension. Alec shook his head in resignation. Well, so long as they were prepared. Right?

* * *

It took them more than half a day to fly to their destination. Once there, they met up with their local Manticore contact and were issued the necessary information before they retired to their respective rooms.

The resort was beautiful, Max thought as she walked past the pots of pink and yellow bougainvillea lining the two sides of the bamboo framed outdoor walkway. The midday sun was blindingly bright, bathing her surroundings in an almost unnatural glow. A small monkey jumped in front of her, looking at her curiously before it jumped away again, making her smile.

She glanced up at the rest of her unit. The humid heat meant that all of them were dressed very lightly. Involuntarily, her eyes went to Alec.

He was wearing a fitted light blue sleeveless top with black shorts, displaying the well-formed muscles of his arms and his calves. When her eyes landed on his firm backside, Max quickly tore her eyes away. All her wayward thoughts of Alec were most disconcerting.

She continued to follow the rest until they turned the corner. In front of her, there was a large, single storey building. Pushing the entrance door open, Alec gestured for them to go in. There were sixteen rooms, split by a central corridor, Max noted as she stepped in.

To her surprise, Max found her room situated next to Alec's. She looked up to find him staring at her with an unreadable expression.

"Get some rest. We'll be regrouping in five hours," he told her gruffly before he disappeared into his room.

Shrugging, Max went into her room and prepared herself for the night ahead.

Fourteen hours later, Max found herself elbowing her way along the damp forest floor beside Silt.

* * *

It took them exactly three hours and seventeen minutes to locate the hideout and twenty-nine minutes to extract the prisoners.

Simple.

Until one of the militants who were guarding the place raised the alarm.

Then everything became chaotic as Alec gave the order to evacuate.

Three miles away from the hideout, Alec and his team approached a small waterfall. Dawn was approaching. They should be here by now. He looked around and exhaled a breath of relief when he saw the shadowy shapes of Biggs leading the other team to the rendezvous point.

"Everything okay?" Alec asked, looking over Biggs' team as they ran past him, merging into a complete unit again.

Falling behind to join Alec, Biggs nodded. "We got two." He gestured at a man and a woman in the midst of his team.

"Good. We got three. There were more than we expected, but I guess we couldn't just leave them."

"We need to speed up," Ren said. "The chopper's supposed to be at Point B soon."

Alec nodded and looked around again, and then his heart stilled when he noticed that they were one short. "Damn it! Where's Max?"

Hefting the injured politician up higher on his shoulders, Silt frowned. "I could have sworn that she was right beside me when you gave that order."

A feeling of dread came over him. No, not again, Alec thought in apprehension. A feeling of deja-vu washed over him.

"_Damn it! She's supposed to be with you, Ren! Where is she? We got to move out."_

_A flustered looking Ren replied, "I don't know, Alec. She was here a minute ago. She was right beside me."_

_Alarmed, Alec looked around the casino. The crowd made it hard for him to spot her. With a grimace, he told Ren, "Head out to the rendezvous point. I'll find her."_

_Silently, Ren nodded as Alec walked off casually._

_He finally found her behind their target, a tall, distinguished Italian man who was busy tossing chips down on the table. His lips tightening, he strode towards her. She saw him coming and casually detached himself from the man with a flirtatious smile._

_When she passed him, he hissed angrily, "You were supposed to stay with Ren."_

_Her chin lifted stubbornly. "I had a good chance back there."_

_He gave her an incredulous look. "We got to go. He knows someone's here. His bodyguards are all over the place. What are you going to do by yourself, huh? Follow him up into his room?"_

_Her eyes flashed. "Why, you sound almost jealous, Alec," she drawled coldly._

_He gave her a warning look. "This is not the time for that, Sam."_

_Her smile was bitter. "It's never the right time, is it?"_

"_This is definitely not the right time. We're on an assignment," he gritted out._

_She gave him a hurt look. "You're the one letting it affect our assignments, Alec. What happened to being partners?" And then, without another word, she turned and walked away._

Alec shook his head, trying to clear the image of Sam's expression from his mind. Keep your head in the game, soldier. This was no time for remembrance. This was a different mission. And he had kept Max close to him by assigning her to his team.

But where the hell was she now? She must have fallen behind or something and in the chaos, no one noticed.

Alec gestured back where they came from. "You go ahead. Get Payton, Brown and the women into the chopper and try to stop their bleeding. I'm going back to find her."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Biggs declared resolutely, "I'll come with you."

Alec looked ahead to find that the rest was already some distance away. "No. Someone needs to lead."

Reluctantly, Biggs assented and ran forward to join the rest.

Hoping that he was not too late, Alec went back on his tracks. The faint sound of gunshots served as a beacon. He blurred across the forest floor, hardly feeling the snap of branches against his body.

The sound was beginning to get louder. He was close.

Then his transgenic vision homed in on her in the distance.

Stood in a clearing, she was surrounded by the militants. There were eleven of them against her. But it did not seem to bother her. Even from that distance, he could see the smirk on her face.

He went cold with apprehension. What the hell did she think she was doing? Was she trying to kill herself?

The sound of rifles being reloaded spurred him into action. As he blurred towards her, the men released their rounds. A small, shaking figure at her feet came into his vision.

But Max had already dodged out of the firing path, taking the small figure with her. Then she spun around, taking down two men with a sweep of her legs. Grabbing their rifles, she aimed and shot another three in the head.

"Max!" he yelled to no avail. She carried on as if she had not heard him.

As he got closer, he could see the expression on her face. To his astonishment, apart from the expression of utter concentration, there was also a hint of wild determination in her eyes. Something feral. Like she did not care whether she lived or not.

As she rammed the butt of her now-empty rifle up into the jaw of one militant, another one caught hold of the small figure beside Max. A terrified scream pierced the air. A girl, Alec realised with surprise. In an instant, Max had the militant's neck in her hand. A sickening crack sounded and the man slumped to the side, allowing the girl to escape.

Angry shouts in the distance signalled the approach of a fresh bunch of militants. As they got closer, Alec's eyes widened in horror as Max pulled out two grenades.

She was too close, he thought. It was going to hit her. "Max!!!" he yelled desperately. "Don't do it!"

If she had heard him, she did not show it. Instead, she tossed the grenades at the oncoming militants. Wrapping herself protectively around the small girl, she threw herself in the opposite direction.

A large explosion rocked the ground. A few trees collapsed, pinning some unfortunate militants beneath its weight.

Looking around wildly, Alec continued his headlong rush forward. Come on, he urged himself. Then he exhaled a breath of relief when he saw Max staggering to her feet, cradling the girl in her arms.

He scanned the area. Four to go, Alec counted as he reached the clearing.

One of the militants spotted him. Alec zigzagged towards him, sidestepping the bullets. With a twist of his arms, Alec relieved the surprised militant of his rifle and smashed the butt over his head.

A bullet zipped past dangerously close to his ear. Flipping the rifle, he spun around and released two shots into the shooter's chest. The sound of the shot echoed around them, and then the other man fell down with a thud.

Alec lowered his gun, but his entire body was still tense.

An ominous silence surrounded him.

The militants' bodies littered the ground. A quick scan told Alec that there were sixteen of them. But there was no sign of the one he was looking for. His eyes widened in alarm. Where was Max?

"Max!" he yelled, uncaring that his voice contained a hint of desperation.

"MAX!"

"We're here," her voice sounded some distance away.

She was alive, he thought, exhaling loudly. Brushing the branches out of his way, Alec ran in the direction of her voice.

He found her crouching over the still-shaking girl, holding her Manticore-issue water canister to the dirt-streaked girl's cracked lips. He was sure that Max sensed his presence, but she did not look up. Her attention was solely on the girl.

Silently, he ran his eyes over her. No sign of damage, he noted with relief.

All of a sudden, he felt his anger rise. He did not remember ever feeling as angry as he did now.

Pushed beyond his limits, Alec shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing? _NEVER_ run off like that by yourself again! Is that clear, soldier?"

Startled by his harsh words, the girl whimpered and shrank closer to Max.

Max turned around with a frown as she helped the girl up onto her feet. "I hear you fine, Alec. You don't have to shout." Her voice was calm.

Irritated beyond belief, he gestured back towards the clearing. "You could have gotten yourself killed back there. What the hell was that about? I specifically gave instructions to evacuate. We got what we came for."

She did not answer. Instead, she started walking, the girl propped at her side.

Glowering, Alec stepped behind her. "I'm talking to you, Max," he hissed in warning.

Her steps not faltering, she glanced over her shoulders at him. "Do you mind waiting until we get back to base before you lecture me?"

Alec glanced at the girl in Max's arm and gritted his teeth. "Fine," he relented grudgingly.

* * *

She leaned back against the seat and sighed in relief.

The girl was alright. The way she had been tied up against the wall brought back bad memories. Memories which she had fervently wished remained buried somewhere unreachable. The shackles, the dirty wall and the smell of blood and urine in the room. Everything had been almost identical to what she herself had been subjected to. The only difference was, someone had been there to save the girl. The girl did not have to fend for herself.

Max turned to the side to look at the sleeping girl. She was young, probably around seventeen. Max could guess what the girl had gone through. Thinking back to the wounds she had just dressed earlier, Max grimaced. No, she _knew_ what had been done to the girl. _How could those animals do that to the girl?_

Her anger surged and she clenched her fists. The sudden tightening of her muscles delivered a shot of piercing pain through her upper arm and shoulders. She winced, knowing that she had damaged it when the impact from the grenade threw her against the tree. Her arm was not the only thing hurting. She knew without even checking that the pain in the fleshy part of her thigh could mean only one thing; a bullet lodged in it. And not to mention her head felt like it had been chewed up.

Now that the adrenaline had dissipated, she could feel every ache in her abused body. _Great._

The sound of the helicopter blades and the thrumming of the engine were not helping.

She felt a pair of eyes on her but she refused to look in that direction. Who else could it be but Alec?

She closed her eyes.

Alec was angry and she understood why. She had taken a risk, but she had made sure that all of them had left before she turned back to save the girl. Keeping the rest of the unit away from that risk had been something that she had consciously set out to do. There was no way she would let herself be a part of another tragedy.

He was still staring at her, she could feel it. She was surprised that he had respected her words enough to let it rest for the moment. He would tell her off later, she was sure of it.

* * *

It took them another hour before they reached the private resort. The chopper landed on the small landing pad at the top of the administration building, the decreasing sound of the rotors bringing relief to its occupants. Almost instantly, Silt and Laney opened the door and dashed out.

Alec turned to Ren, "Can you get the girl some help?"

Ren nodded, carefully lifting the sleeping girl off the seat into his arm. Alec watched intently as the girl moaned, but did not awaken. She left the chopper cradled in Biggs' arm.

Alec turned around to find that Max was already on her way out. They were the last two. With a frown, he noticed that she was wincing as she walked. He did not realise that she had sustained damage.

"You're hurt," he stated flatly.

She glanced briefly at him. "It's nothing. The medics can fix it easily," she replied as she jumped off the chopper, staggering a little.

He followed behind her. "Why didn't you say something earlier?" he asked, annoyed at her nonchalance. They could have patched her up in the chopper.

She shrugged as she walked gingerly across the flat roof, but she did not answer.

Alec's eyes narrowed. "Is it so hard for you to just follow orders and procedures?" he asked, walking through the door and down the stairs behind her.

"I'm not being difficult on purpose, Alec," she said wearily, her tone of voice instilling a feeling of guilt in him.

He hardened his resolve. "Then what is it? First, you just broke off from us, and then, you did not report your injury. What are you trying to prove?"

She halted mid-step and glared at him. "Look, Alec. First of all, I turned back because I can't just leave her there. Can't you understand?" Her agitated voice echoed through the empty stairwell.

Alec snorted. "I understand your reasons. But you can't just go off like that on your own. It wasn't hard to get one of us to go with you."

She gave him an exasperated look. "It's risky. There's no reason to put everyone in danger."

His eyes flashed. "So it's okay for you to put yourself in danger? What's wrong with you, Max?"

She stiffened visibly. "Look, I'm not going to apologise for doing something right."

"Right? Doing something right?" His voice rose in disbelief. "What's right about running headlong into danger? What's right about disobeying a direct order?"

"You heard my reasons. I'm not justifying myself to you again."

He grabbed her arm and leaned close to her. "Listen, Max. We're soldiers. Soldiers take orders," he hissed.

"Whatever," she said disinterestedly, rolling her eyes.

As he bristled with anger, she snatched her arm from his grasp and continued to walk down the stairs. Alec growled. This was the second time in as many hours that he felt like he was going to completely lose his temper with the stubborn woman. If she thought that he was going to let her off that easily, she was sorely mistaken. His face set in determined lines, he strode after her.

"You're not walking away until we're done talking!" he snapped, his hands clenched into fists.

Ignoring him, she continued to walk.

His anger rose by several notches, hitting the limit of his endurance. Blurring down the stairs, he grabbed her arm again and forcibly twisted her around to face him.

"You're going to obey orders whether you like it or not, soldier!" he snarled into her face.

"Let me go, Alec," she gritted out, her voice carrying an unmistakeable hint of warning.

He shook her roughly. "Not until I make you see sense."

"I said, let go!" she snapped furiously, trying to twist out of his grip unsuccessfully. Her small hands pressed against his chest.

Their eyes clashed, both flushed from the heated argument. Alec swallowed as his eyes landed on her slightly parted lips.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Before he realised what he was doing, his head swooped down to crush her lips under his.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Anger makes people do uncharacteristic things…(:Grins evilly:)…I know, I know, this is a bad place to leave the chapter. Anyway, hope you'll be kind enough to leave me a review and tell me what you think of this chapter! Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you for reviewing the last chapter. Sorry for the delay in the update! Firstly, I've been trying to finish off the last chapter of Irresistible Rivals, but without much luck as my muse for that story seemed to have gone MIA. Then, I got distracted by another fandom (:groans:). The thing is, next week is going to be bad for fanfic as well because of all the Christmas parties and whatnot! (:sighs:)

Anyway, here's the next instalment. Enjoy!!

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 6**

(by elle6778)

Before he realised what he was doing, his head swooped down to crush her lips under his.

A broken gasp escaped her lips at the suddenness of his action, but blinded by his anger and something else he could not name, he continued to assault her lips. She pushed against him, but he held her tight until the insistent pressure against him abated.

Then she responded. Her lips began to move just as frantically as his, her hands snaking further up his chest, clenching the material in her fists. Instead of pushing, she was now pulling him to her.

Alec groaned as he felt the swipe of her tongue against his lips. Capturing it, he suckled, enjoying the taste of her. It was heady, and he felt like he was in some sort of trance.

Of its own volition, his hand mimicked hers, travelling down her shoulders to brush over the curve of her breast. A breathy moan sounded against his lips, heating up his already boiling blood. He gave in to the desire to touch her bare skin and let his hands slide under her top.

Her skin was hot and smooth, feeling like silk under his rough palms. He felt her ribcage expand as she inhaled sharply. As his tongue continued to lap at hers, he reached up and pushed her bra over her breast. When he touched her bare breast for the first time, a shiver ran down his spine at the contact.

He ran his thumbs over her hardened nipple. Her hands held his head in an almost painful grip as she let out a strangled sound.

Her sharp teeth bit into his lower lip, and Alec tasted the coppery tang of his own blood mingled with the taste of her. Something broke inside him and he groaned helplessly as the hands on her breasts became rougher, more urgent. His lips slid to the corner of hers and trailed down until he reached her neck.

She arched for him, pressing them even closer together, and his erection grew and strained against the tight confines of his pants. Thoughts played no part in his actions as he ground his hips hard in the search for release. Flicking his tongue out, he trailed a damp path from the hollow at the base of her neck to the curve on the underside of her ear. A choked sound bubbled out from her lips.

He felt her hands sliding around his ribcage to his back and dipped lower past his belt. As the small fingers grasped the firm flesh of his ass, Alec sucked in a shuddering breath.

His hands fisted at the hem of her top and yanked it up, exposing her bra-clad breast to his gaze. In a rush, he dipped down and captured her in his mouth, teasing her though the damp fabric. The pressure in his groin intensified painfully.

Through the haze in his mind, he thought he heard someone said stop.

_Stop?_ The word did not seem to make sense to him.

"Alec, stop." Her voice came out as a breathless plea.

Alec stilled.

He lifted his head up and their eyes connected. She was flushed, her eyes gleaming with passion, her lips swollen from their kisses. Numbly, he dropped his hands from her breast and watched as she quickly pulled her shirt down. His heart still racing from the after-effects of their encounter, he could only stare at her dumbly.

Suddenly, the enormity of the situation sank in.

Hard.

He had practically ravaged her in the middle of the stairwell. What the hell was he thinking? How could he justify what he had just done?

She groaned, burying her face in her hands, obviously feeling as confused as he was. "What are we doing, Alec?"

Good question. What was he thinking, grabbing her like that? He should have known better. Taking a step back from her, he lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling very awkward. What could he possibly say to her?

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he finally said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically frazzled.

There was a pause before she said flatly, "Right."

"I apologise." His voice was tight.

She averted her eyes. "I'm sure you won't let it happen again."

* * *

Max turned around in the unfamiliar hotel bed, trying to find a more comfortable position. Her wound was throbbing like mad, no matter how she laid down.

Exasperated, she finally sat up.

She knew that it was not just the wound which was bugging her.

It was Alec.

She shut her eyes tightly. Why did he do it? Surely he did not feel something like _that_ towards her. No, it was not likely. Alec was probably just so strung up with fury that he had lost it for a moment. Yeah, that must be it.

But what about her reaction to that kiss? Not only the kiss either, but everything else after that? She could not lie to herself this time. Her responses had been genuine. The question was, _who_ was she thinking of? Was it Alec or was it Ben?

Did she miss Ben so much that she could not even differentiate between him and Alec? She heard somewhere that one would always remember their first time. A soft smile graced her lips. She remembered hers alright.

It had happened one cold winter night when she was fifteen.

_They were lying in her tent during one of the outdoor exercises. As they often did in the dorms, she was spooned against Ben, sharing their body heat in the cold night. His hand was wrapped loosely around her middle. _

_His breathing told her that he was still awake._

"_Can't sleep?" she asked softly._

_He nuzzled the back of her neck, and her body warmed at the action. "No, Maxie," he said quietly._

_She tried to turn around to face him, pressing her backside hard against his groin as she did so. He sucked in a sharp breath before he shifted back from her, holding her away from him._

_She frowned. Did she hurt him? "What's wrong, Ben?"_

"_Nothing," he said tersely._

_Positive that something was wrong, she tried to turn around again. This time, she brushed against a hard lump. Both of them froze, their breaths caught in their throats. Her eyes widened in the darkness, and Max swallowed. She knew what she had just touched._

"_Ben?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_You're…"_

_He groaned in embarrassment. "I know."_

_A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Ben was embarrassed, she realised. It had happened before and every time it did, Ben reacted in the same way. Then her smile turned into a mischievous grin. She wondered how flustered he could get. _

_And anyway, she was curious. Some of the other X5s in other units had been talking about it, and she wanted to know what was all the fuss about._

_Deliberately, she shifted back until they were touching again. To her surprise, Ben did not move away this time. Instead, his arm came up to curve around her midsection. Smiling, she closed her eyes and rubbed back against him._

"_Maxie…" he whispered, his voice a little choked._

_Then she felt the tentative brush of his fingers against the underside of her breast. She sucked in a sharp breath, her entire body tensing in anticipation. Would he?_

_As if in reply to her question, his hand slowly slipped further up. At the first brush of his fingers against her nipples, her body jolted in reaction and a shot of desire coursed through her._

_He jerked his hands back. "Sorry," he mumbled, shifting back from her._

_Quickly, she reached back and caught his hand. "Do it again."_

_She could feel his hesitation, but after a short moment, he scooted closer and reached out to place his hand against her breast. He ran the tips of his digits over her hardened nipple, flicking it gently. Max arched back against his chest. Her whole body felt like hot liquid and there was an ache at the junction between her legs. _

_With a soft moan, she turned to face him. Their eyes met, each pair heavily lidded. Her gaze then fell to his lips and she licked her own. Groaning, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers softly. Max gasped at their first kiss. He was so soft, so gentle._

_Placing her arm around his neck, she pulled him close and then watched him tentatively as she licked his lips. His eyes immediately became darker and his lips parted. With a groan, they came together clumsily, their tongues searching, testing, tasting._

_His hands snaked under her thin thermal top until they reached her bra. With an impatient groan, Max sat up and pulled her top off together with her bra, leaving her clad only in a pair of pants. She smiled at his hungry gaze. Straddling his hips, she helped him pull off his top._

_Then she found herself flipped down to her back with Ben lying between her legs. When he rubbed against her, she could not help but moan. The ache was getting more intense and all she could think of was to satisfy it, to find some form of release._

_He lowered his head, his eyes full of wonder and anticipation. Then his lips closed around her nipple. Max arched up in reflex, her mouth open in a silent gasp. Ben groaned, and the vibration travelled down her body._

Max sat up in the bed and pressed the heel of her hand against her eyes. With their transgenic memory, it seemed like the entire thing had just happened yesterday. Their first coupling had been clumsy, but they had been enthusiastic and excited enough for it to be something that she remembered fondly.

Her lips twisted when she recalled what had happened the next morning. Zack, as usual, had been the one to enter their tent to wake them up. It was an understatement to say that Zack had been angry. Zack had been furious, ranting at them about how irresponsible they had been.

With a sad sigh, Max shook her head, trying to dislodge the memories. She did not want to think about Zack, or Ben, or any of her now-deceased family. The pain was too much to bear.

There was no way she could sleep now.

She swung her legs over the bed.

Perhaps a walk outside would clear her mind.

* * *

Alec sat with his back against a large tree trunk, his head tilted up to the sky. He was outside in the landscaped area surrounding the resort. The sky was inky black, the perfect backdrop to highlight the brilliance of the clusters of perfect, glowing stars. There was no sound except the occasional chirp and croak from various insects. The balmy night air shifted around him, and he welcomed its warmth.

He looked down at his hands, mulling over the incident in the stairwell. A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He should not have done what he had done. However, he was honest enough to admit that he had enjoyed it. And from her responses, so did she. But that did not make it right.

What on earth had possessed him to do it? Max had been just as shocked as he was, he could tell. Things had been uncomfortable enough between them without this. No doubt their interactions would now be even more strained.

Just what he needed, he thought in annoyance. He had to find a way to fix this, but how?

So wrapped up in his thoughts, Alec did not realise that he was no longer alone until he was startled by the muted sound of boots trampling on damp leaves.

He looked up, and met a pair of chocolate brown eyes. They stared at each other silently, neither of seemed like they were willing to make the first move.

Then he tore his gaze away, breaking the spell.

"Can't sleep?" he asked softly as he rubbed a damp leaf between his fingers. He felt, rather than see her sitting down beside him, leaning against the same tree.

"Shark DNA," she replied quietly.

They sat together in an awkward silence.

After a moment, Alec sneaked a look out of the corner of his eyes. All he could see was the side profile of her face tilted up to the sky. Her skin was bathed in the moonlight, making it appear as if she was glowing.

The corner of her lips lifted slightly, but she did not turn around.

"You're staring, Alec." There was an underlying tone of amusement in her voice.

He smirked. "Is there a problem with that?"

There was a slight hesitation before she replied, "I don't feel comfortable."

He looked away guiltily, his thoughts going back to the last time he had bumped into her in the showers. That time, his comments had hurt her, although he had not meant to do so. But he guessed that under the prickly exterior, Max was actually self-conscious about the way she looked.

"You have no reason to feel that way," he told her quietly, shifting so that he could look at her.

She stiffened visibly. Her voice was bitter when she spoke. "Funny, that's not the impression I got."

He sighed heavily. "Look, Max. About what I said in the showers…" He paused, unsure how to continue. Apologies were something he had never been good at.

"You don't have to say anything, Alec." Her voice was strained. "I get it."

Knowing that this would escalate into something completely out of control, Alec decided that he had to put a stop to it. "No, you're not getting it," he interjected firmly. "I didn't mean what I said."

Her lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. "Now you're going to tell me that I'm the perfect Manticore prototype, right?"

Alec sighed. Placing a hand on her shoulders, he turned her so that their eyes met. "None of us are perfect, contrary to how Manticore chooses to advertise us. Sure, you got some scars. Who doesn't?"

She gave him a dry look.

He shrugged. "Alright. Most of us don't, but it doesn't matter," he told her, but she did not look convinced. Actually, she looked more sceptical than ever.

He gritted his teeth. If he had to embarrass himself to make her feel better, so be it. From the looks of it, he had no choice. His thoughtless words that day would continue to hang over them if he did not explain himself.

"You want to know why I said what I said that day?"

She looked away quickly. "No. It's okay."

"No. It's not okay. You caught me off guard," he paused. Hating how reluctant he sounded, he added, "You caught me off guard, and you made me feel stupid for staring at you."

Silence followed his proclamation.

"Max?"

"That was… unexpected." She sounded amused.

At her tone, he let himself relax. "But don't expect me to admit something like that again." Then he added gruffly, "I must be going soft."

She gave him an uncertain smile. "It seems like it."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'll show you how soft I am when we get back to the morning drills and exercises. You won't be able to stand after the session I'll put you through."

"Is that another challenge, Alec?"

Alec smirked. "Yeah, if that's the way you want to take it."

Her eyes flashed with determination. "You're on, Alec."

With a short chuckle, he leaned back against the tree trunk, feeling strangely contented.

* * *

_Her head lolled to the side, but she did not have the energy to pull it back up. Through the thundering pain in her head, she could hear the sick laughter of the militants as they continued to lash out at her. She did not know how long they had been at it. They had stopped, and then started again. And again whenever the urge struck them._

_The bastards._

_She was not going to talk. There was no way she would tell them about Manticore so that they could launch an attack. They would have to kill her first._

_They would probably kill her anyway. She might as well make it harder for them._

_One of the militants suddenly shouted. Stop, he said stop, her mind vaguely registered the word._

_And then the door opened._

_She blinked through hazy eyes as they dragged someone in. His clothes hung tattered over his body, heavily caked with dried blood. The scent of blood told her that there were also fresh wounds in addition to the old ones. Max felt her empty stomach heave._

_The boss came up to her and jerked her chin up. _

_She had no energy to resist his manhandling, but managed to glare at him._

_He sneered. "Hurting you doesn't seem to work. But let's see how he feels when we hurt you."_

_She stiffened. Her eyes went to the other prisoner._

_Then she realised who it was._

"_No," she rasped weakly. "Leave him alone."_

_The other prisoner lifted his head. His battered features were barely recognisable. Every inch of his face was covered in blood._

"_Max?" His voice came out as a croak. When their eyes met, she noticed that all his usual brightness was now gone from those hazel orbs. Instead, they were glazed, and he looked as if he barely knew where they were._

_It was Ben. They captured Ben as well. Her entire body shook with anger. He was in a much worse state than she was. _

"_LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she yelled in a broken voice._

_Another man stepped up to her. "You'd better worry about yourself." And then turning to Ben, he said, "You're going to tell me what I need to know, or you will watch this girl die."_

_Her eyes fixed to the broken figure in the middle of the room, she called out beseechingly, "Ben? Don't listen to them."_

_The whip sliced through the air and hit the side of her arm._

_Ben looked up at her helplessly, a broken arm reaching out. "Don't…" he choked out. Blood trickled out of the corner of his lips._

_Max's heart constricted painfully. She shook her head at him, barely feeling the lashes hitting her abused body. Her eyes burned, not from the pain inflicted on her body, but from the state Ben was in. How could they? How could they do this to him? She wanted to scream, she wanted to lash out, but she knew that she could not._

_Ben tried to crawl towards her, and it became clear to her that his legs were also broken. She choked on a sob. "Ben…"_

_One of the militants delivered a backhand against his head and he sprawled on the floor._

"_DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Her broken voice rose in fury._

* * *

A shrill scream ripped through the air, making his hair stand on its end.

No, not again, Alec thought in trepidation as he bounced off his hotel bed. Remembering Max's locked door from the last time this had happened, he grabbed quickly his toolkit. Not bothering to put on his shirt, he rushed out into the corridor. One by one, the doors to the other rooms opened and worried faces peeked out. Without a word, Alec gestured for them to return to bed as he stood outside Max's room. Instead of retreating back to his room, Biggs arrived at his side, looking extremely worried.

With a pointed glance, Alec said, "Let me handle this."

Biggs looked uncertain. "But she's not going to let you in."

"Trust me on this, Biggs."

Biggs continued to hesitate.

Alec expelled an exasperated sigh. "Go back to your room."

Finally, Biggs relented and left, but not without giving Alec a questioning look.

Alec turned his attention to Max's door. This should work, he thought as he pulled out a universal key from his toolkit. A second later, the door clicked open. Quietly, he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

The first thing he saw was Max trashing in her bed. The covers were lying forgotten on the floor, but immersed in her nightmare, Max did not notice the loss. His breath caught as he studied her. There were tear tracks running down her cheeks and she looked as if she was in agony.

Alec stepped closer and sat down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulders to still her erratic movements. She calmed down for a moment. A second later, face twisted in anguish, she lashed out with an arm, just missing him.

"NO! LET HIM GO!" she yelled, clearly desperate to push away something.

Alec froze. He knew that her unit did not make it, but not realise that her unit had been captured first. Were they tortured? Was she the only one who had survived it? If so, the scars marring her body and her nightmares began to make more sense now.

She continued to trash violently, appearing as if she was trying to escape some invisible bonds. He grabbed her hand before they could inflict any damage to him or to herself, firmly pinning them down to her side. She redoubled her efforts. The hoarse sobs from her lips tore into him, making him feel increasingly frustrated at his inability to help her.

"Shh, Max. It's okay…You're alright," he murmured in a soothing voice.

Trying to get into a more comfortable position beside her, he lifted his legs up to the bed and laid down beside her. His hands moved from her wrist up to her back and he enveloped her in a tight hug.

She stilled and then, slowly, her eyes opened.

Alec stared into her eyes, their faces only a breath apart. He held his breath. She was going to kill him when she realised how close he was, he groaned inwardly. During the time they had known each other, he had come to understand how much she valued her personal space.

Unexpectedly she grabbed him and pulled him close to her in a death grip. "Ben!" she called out brokenly as she buried her face in his chest. "You're okay. You're okay!"

_Ben?_ What was she talking about? His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Max?" he ventured uncertainly.

She snuggled closer, nuzzling her face against his chest. Automatically, he laid a hand on her back and stroked up and down in a soothing motion. This was a part of Max which he had not seen before. And he was not sure what to make of it.

"You smell different," she mumbled into his neck, her lips brushing his sensitive skin.

Alec froze. The feel of her lips caressing his skin sent a shot of desire running through his body. Before he could make any sense of it, she stopped and her breathing evened out.

She was asleep again.

A soft sound at the door caught his attention and he turned to see Biggs staring at him with a thoughtful look on his face.

Alec suddenly felt uncomfortable, feeling as if he was poaching on Biggs territory or something like that. Carefully, he lowered Max down to the bed, shielding her body from Biggs until he pulled the covers over her. She moaned in protest, but at the touch of his hand on her cheeks, she stilled.

Hoping that she would sleep through the night without any more nightmares, Alec walked away, brushing past Biggs into the corridor.

Once the door shut behind him, Biggs spoke. "How's she?"

"Another nightmare," Alec explaned. "She's calm now."

Biggs gave him an odd look. "It seems so."

Alec knew that Biggs was holding something back. A small frown gracing his forehead, he asked, "What is it?"

Bigg's eyes flickered uncertainly before he spoke. "Why did you stop me?"

"From what?"

"You know, Alec. From going in to see her," Biggs elaborated, his voice a little taut.

Why, Alec asked himself. Rubbing the back of his neck, he replied evasively, "Does it matter?"

Suspicion coated Biggs' next words. "You tell me."

His irritation rising, Alec snapped without thinking, "Is it unacceptable for a CO to check up on one of his unit members in private?"

Alec immediate regretted his words when Biggs drew back, looking as if he had just received a blow. Sighing, he started, "Look, Biggs…"

"It's okay, Alec. I'm heading back to bed now," Biggs interjected quietly.

Without another word, Biggs walked away, leaving Alec to stare at his retreating back.

Great, just great, Alec thought.

* * *

As she sat staring out of the SUV, Max was aware of the questioning glances from the rest of her unit. It was not as if she did not understand the reason behind it. She had barely spoken a word the entire morning, or throughout the flight, for that matter.

She just could not do it. She could not pretend that everything was alright. If she opened her mouth, she was afraid that she might lose the tenuous control she had on herself. This had nothing to do with Unit 6, and she had no intention of involving them in the sick drama that was her life.

The gates to the Seattle facility came into view and the SUV swept past the checkpoint once they had been verified. She tensed, her nerves stretched taut as they neared the main building. Max gritted her teeth, forcefully holding herself still. Her anger boiled hotter than ever, interspersed by the occasion waves of confusion.

Why did Lydecker have to do this to her? Why?

The SUV had barely pulled to a stop before she jumped out, leaving Thena, Silt and Ren in the vehicle. She would explain everything to them once she got to the bottom of this.

Alec was approaching from the opposite direction when she blurred past him at a breakneck speed.

"Max?" She heard him call out as she passed him. "Where's the fire?" he asked, sounding puzzled.

Not in the frame of mind to be civil, she did not bother to reply. Instead, she continued across the tarmac and practically blurred all the way to Lydecker's room.

Her eyes narrowed as Lydecker's door came into view. Uncaring that she was being insubordinate, she stormed into Lydecker's room without knocking.

A startled Lydecker looked up from his desk when she stood glaring in front of him.

"What-" he started, but she did not let him finish.

"YOU KNEW!" she yelled, her eyes flashing in outrage, her entire body shaking.

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: Yes. Another cliffy (: Ducks rotten fruits :) I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and the direction it is taking. Please review and let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing the last chapter. Hope you'll enjoy this one!

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 7**

(by elle6778)

"YOU KNEW!" she yelled, her eyes flashing in outrage, her entire body shaking.

Lydecker gave her a thoughtful look before he stepped around his desk. "Max, what's wrong?" he asked calmly.

As angry as she was, Max found herself incapable of responding to him even through she had pent up everything ever since she had woken up for this moment of confrontation. She remembered the missing bits now. Her eyes glazed over as she recalled the nightmare.

_Her swollen eyes watched in helpless desperation as they drug Ben's limp body out. Was he alive? Was he dead? Why didn't she say something? Why didn't she try to stall them, to lie to them? Why did she have to be so stubborn, to keep her mouth shut?_

"_No…Leave him alone, you bastards!" she shouted one last time as Ben disappeared from her sight and the door slammed shut._

_Then it all went silent._

_She did not know how long she was left alone in the dark. Time ceased to mean anything to her, only her pain and her last memories of seeing Ben. How could they? How could they do this to Ben? Silent tears streamed down her cheeks. She wished she could have done something. She wished that she could have stopped them._

_The door swung open, bringing in a gust of fresh air and a stream of light from the corridor outside. _

"_Where's he?" she snarled when the boss strode into the room._

_He merely sneered at her. "He's no use to us now. We've…disposed of him." _

_Max's throat constricted as her heart stopped. No. He couldn't have possibly meant it. Not Ben. Her eyes burned with her unshed tears and her breath caught. Denial rang in her head. No, not Ben! But somehow, the rational part of her mind managed to assert itself, making her remember the state Ben had been in when she had last seen him._

_Her blood began to boil._

_Then a growl escaped her throat. _

_She wanted to kill them._

_She wanted them DEAD. All of them!_

_The boss motioned for the militants to follow him. Taking a few steps closer to her, his sneer turned into a leer. "Now, it's just you and…us. Your friend can't save you. He can't even save himself."_

_Max spat at him with all the venom she could muster. Her entire body shook with pent up rage and adrenaline. She knew she was hurt badly, but somehow, the physical pain was nothing compared to the mental torture of knowing Ben's demise._

_A cold hand gripped her chin, forcing her to face a pair of glittering black eyes. "I think I know how we can make you talk." His voice was disgustingly oily._

_There was no further warning._

_The next thing Max heard was a loud rip and her top was torn of her battered body. Her eyes widened in shock. She should have expected this. But still, it came as a surprise. _

_But then shock became anger. Mind numbing, white-hot, piercing anger as the militants lay their dirty grasping hands on her body, their mocking laughter echoing in her ears. _

_Anger at the unfairness of what she was forced to go through. Anger for what was done to her unit, to those she had grown up with, lying dead on the ground. All for what? For carrying out orders? For making sure that the militants did not succeed in taking over the oil-rich country for their own greedy use? For helping another country in need?_

_Something inside her snapped. _

_A surge of energy she did not realise she had coursed through her and she yanked her arms forward violently._ _The shackles ripped away from the wall, sending chunks of plaster and concrete flying out. _

_She stood there panting at the exertion, the now useless shackles dangling from her wrists and her ankles. Her internal and external restraints now demolished, her eyes glittered wildly as she stared at the group of men in front of her._

_The men were looking at her, their expression displaying their disbelief at her action._

_But she no longer cared about anything but her own self-preservation. It was time for retaliation for what they had done to her in the past few weeks. Her stance became predatorial. _

_She wanted to kill._

_An animalistic snarl escaped her lips._

_Someone charged at her. _

_With superhuman speed, she returned the attack even before he reached her. Everything happened in a blur after that as they all lunged at her at the same time. The first thing she aimed for was the weapons. Those cowards were useless without the protection of their guns._

_Her muscles burned, protesting against the strain she inflicted on them by lashing out. But she carried on. She moved only by instinct, not really registering who or what her fists and her legs connected with. Ripping off their limbs, cracking their necks, she did not care what she did. All she wanted was for all of them to die. _

_To DIE!_

_Then she stood still, studying the last three militants. All their weapons lay broken on the floor._

_Their bodies trembled. They stank of fear so putrid and thick that she wanted gag at the scent. Her eyes narrowing predatorily, she sneered derisively at them before she launched her attack against them. She carried on until each and every one of them lay unbreathing on the grimy floor._

_She stared down at them numbly, with no feeling of remorse. _

_Slowly, as she stood there unmoving, sanity began to return._

_Ben, she had to find Ben._

"Max?"

Max blinked rapidly as the memories faded away, leaving her with a sudden feeling of emptiness. She raised her eyes to meet Lydecker's concerned face. Clenching her fists tightly, she fought to contain her overpowering anger.

"Don't pretend you don't know, Deck. You knew about Ben. That's why you sent me here. Isn't that right?" she accused heatedly.

Lydecker expression cleared. When he spoke, his voice was urgent. "What do you remember?"

"You sick bastard! You put me in Alec's unit so that you can drag up all the shit that I didn't want to remember," she snarled, hating how her voice cracked at the end.

"Ben. You remember him?" Lydecker prompted, this time a little sternly.

Max sneered. "Yeah, Deck. Well done. Thanks for letting me in on the plan."

A pained expression crossed his features as he touched her shoulders. "We needed to know, Max. His and yours were the only two bodies we couldn't find."

Her stomach heaved violently as her last memory of her unit came in a flash. She shrugged his hands off roughly. "You let me believe that you found every one of them. You didn't tell me Ben was missing."

Lydecker pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, I didn't. We figured that both of you got captured. But when we found you alone, and in that condition…" He paused. Swallowing, he continued, "Sandoval tried to get you to remember, but there are chunks missing from your memory. You were not responding no matter what we tried. Your mind blocked it out, but we need to know if he survived."

She looked down. "If he survived…" she broke off, unable to continue. When she lifted her eyes, Lydecker appeared blurred.

Dashing the tears away, she gritted out, "No. He didn't survive. They tortured him, broke his legs, and they killed him when he refused to talk. I can't find him after that. I tried, but they must have disposed of him."

Lydecker blinked slowly. And then he leaned back against his desk, his eyes pinned unseeingly to a spot in the distance. He looked lost.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she choked out, hating the way her voice hitched in her throat. Damn it, she did not want to cry! "WHY?"

"You and Ben were very close," Lydecker said slowly. At her widening eyes, he nodded, "Yes, we know about your relationship."

"But…"

He held his hands up to stop her words. "You were good together. You balanced each other out, that's why no one made a fuss about it," Lydecker explained patiently. "But because you were so close, the pain must be harder to bear. The memory blackout was how your system coped with it."

"I didn't want to remember?" she asked in a small voice.

He shook his head sadly. "It was too painful for you to remember. Blocking it out was just a part of your survival instincts. Bringing you in close contact with Alec was our last ditch attempt at getting you to remember Ben."

She bristled at his underhandedness. "Why didn't you ask me straight to the face? Why the indirect approach? This is not like you, Deck!"

Pressing his thumb and finger against his forehead, Lydecker sighed heavily and said, "The psych team recommended that we let you regain your memories without force. I don't know how much you remember of that time, but you're not exactly strong when we found you."

She sneered. "I was tortured physically and mentally. What did you expect?"

"You were like a wild animal when we found you. It took us days to calm you down such that you were willing to talk to us. Psych was worried that if we push you too hard, you'll snap."

"You could have waited for a week…maybe a month. But eighteen months?" she asked, incredulous.

"You were not well," Lydecker insisted harshly.

"I was fine! I was fine for at least a year now!"

Lydecker slammed his palms against the desk, his expression tight. "No you're not. You attacked your previous teammates back in Wyoming more than once and you made no effort in integrating yourself into the units. And now, you're just unpredictable. _That_ was not the behaviour of the Max we know."

Max fell silent. Did she change that much? Was it in the way she treated others, the way she fought, and the way she wrapped a wall around herself? Yes, she had changed, she admitted to herself.

Her voice was dull when she finally spoke. "That Max died when the rest of her unit died."

"No, Max. You're still the same person. And you've been getting better ever since you came here."

"I've been having more nightmares ever since I came here."

"You need to deal with your past to continue living. What you were doing in Wyoming was just existing like a damned machine!"

Max snorted derisively. "Genetically engineered super-soldiers. Machines are engineered. Humans are not."

"You're going to stop referring to yourself like that, Max," Lydecker rapped out irritably.

Suddenly running out of steam, she leaned back and slowly slid down the wall to end up a heap on the floor. She was so tired, so tired of facing everything, of all the dark, painful memories. Tired of trying to deal with something she just could not cope with.

Lydecker looked worried. "Max, get up," he ordered firmly.

Ignoring his orders, Max just stared down at her hands. They looked small and harmless, but she knew that her hands had been stained by the blood of the many people she had killed. Her expression hardened as her hands clenched. But if she had to do it again, she would. For what they had done to her and Ben, she would gladly kill them all over again.

She closed her eyes. "He was alive when they brought him in, but barely. His leg was probably not the only thing they'd broken. They beat me up in front of him to get him to talk."

Lydecker crouched down in front of her, but he did not speak.

"He didn't break. He asked them to stop but he did not tell them about us." She paused, inhaling a calming breath. "Then they took it out on him as well, hoping that I would talk."

"You didn't either," Lydecker added knowingly.

Max shook her head slowly, her lips twisting. "No. I didn't talk. The last thing I saw was Ben being dragged out."

Lydecker's eyes flickered. "Did you see them kill him?"

Max blinked back the tears. "He couldn't have survived it. He was not breathing. His chest was not moving."

"Where is he now, Max?"

"I told you. I searched for him when I escaped, but I couldn't find him."

"He could still be alive."

Max looked at him sharply. Lydecker sounded as if he knew something.

"Alive? After so long?" she asked angrily. "But if you forced me to remember this earlier, he might be! We could have saved him!"

"And what? Drive you insane in the process?"

She stood up abruptly, her eyes flashing angrily. "I wouldn't have cared if I died if it meant that he could live!"

Lydecker sighed. "Look, now that you remember, there's something you need to know."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"

"We need to find out where the militants are based."

"I thought they were wiped out," she exclaimed, incredulous.

Shaking his head, Lydecker said, "No. We took down a few of their cells. Our intelligence said that there should only be one more left. The main headquarters."

"Why are you telling me this now, Deck?" she gritted out tightly. "After all this time? Why not earlier?"

"Because I need you to remember if you've seen or heard anything which might give us a clue as to where their headquarters is."

Max just stared at him.

* * *

Alec placed his hand against the wall, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

So that was why Lydecker had assigned Max to his unit. Because he looked like Max's dead partner. And from the sounds of it, Ben was more than just a mission partner to Max. He was her partner in a more intimate sense.

Ben. That was the name she had called out when he had gone to her room last night. It was Ben's chest that she had buried her face in. The one she trusted.

Not him. Not Alec.

But Ben.

The twisting feeling in his gut was unfamiliar, but he could guess what it meant. He was jealous. He was jealous of a guy who was dead. The thought that Max only saw Ben when she looked at him was something which made him sick to the pit of his stomach.

He groaned when he realised what he was thinking. Biggs had been right. He had a thing for Max.

When did it happen? How could he have let it creep up to him like that?

There were so many questions running through his mind that he did not know where he should start the unravelling process. Everything was just too confusing.

Her scars, her emotional state, her crazy ideas of saving others; it all made sense now. The stupid girl was feeling guilty that she had survived and no one else did. And now that Lydecker had meddled in the entire thing by throwing Max close to someone who resembled Ben, she needed to deal with the guilt of surviving while Ben had been beaten to death right in front of her eyes to get her to talk.

It also explained her weird reaction to him. More than once, he had caught her looking at him with an odd expression on her face and had not been able to figure out why. A harsh laugh escaped his lips. Now he knew why. She had been thinking about Ben. No doubt comparing him with Ben.

What about the kiss they shared in the stairwell? Had she responded that way because of Ben as well? Had her mind been filled with the memories of her lover when she returned the kiss?

With a groan, Alec closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. He should not have followed her here. But he had been anxious when she just ran off. Look where it got him? This was the last thing he needed right now.

The pain, the guilt of losing Sam suddenly came back to him. He had been guilty of not lending Sam his support when she needed it. Sam had needed someone to understand her back then, but he was too wrapped up in his own feelings to pay enough attention. After that, it was too late for him to do anything. Too late for anything but regrets.

Alec would not repeat his mistake. He understood how Max felt. And after listening to her and Lydecker, he realised that he understood even more.

The girl did not do anything wrong. But knowing Max, she thought otherwise, consciously or unconsciously.

Alec stiffened his resolve. If she did not want to listen to anyone telling her that it was not her fault, then he guessed he would just have to show her. After all, now that she was in his unit, he was responsible for her welfare.

And he would not let his personal feelings get in the way.

* * *

She opened the door, and immediately stiffened in surprise when she found Alec standing there looking stunned. Quietly, she shut the door behind her.

He heard them. Alec had heard her conversation with Lydecker. How could he eavesdrop on something so private? She wanted to yell at him, but the expression on his face held her back.

They looked at each other wordlessly.

And then Alec broke the silence. "Come on. Let's get you back to your cell."

She blinked. This was not what she expected from him. Not his calm, reassuring words. She had expected him to taunt her. To laugh at her at her expense. For a moment, her anger surged again.

And then something tugged at her memory. She bit her lips, remembering how Alec had cradled her in his arms, soothing her. She also remembered that in the haziness of her half-awake state that she had thought that he was Ben.

He had been nothing but reassuring and concerned at that time. Very much like how he was now.

Unsure of what she should say and confused about her own state of mind, she just nodded at him. Silently, they made their way across the compound, thankfully not meeting anyone they knew on the way. She was in no mood to be answering unwanted questions at the moment.

Upon reaching the door to her cell, she paused. Hesitantly, she turned around to find Alec looking at her. She had yet to thank him, she realised.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For last night."

He blinked at her. And then, expelling a breath of air, he said, "I heard what you said in there. I'm sorry."

Her smile was watery. "I guess it worked. I finally remember everything. Well, kind of."

Alec gazed at her wordlessly for a moment before he reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Everything is going to be alright."

She sniffed, hating how pathetic she sounded. Then she looked up at him. "Why are you being so nice?"

"Huh?" He dropped his arm.

"You're never this nice to me," she pointed out, her eyes turning suspicious.

A flash of irritation surged within him. Was it so wrong for him to be pleasant to her? Was that just the privilege she afforded the rest but not him? He opened his mouth to set her straight. But before he could say a word, he detected a glimmer of uncertainty in her expression.

His eyes softened. "Hey, we're a team. We look out for each other."

Max exhaled a shuddering breath and Alec turned her around to wrap her close to him. She sniffed into his shirt, hating how vulnerable she was feeling at that moment. His heart thudded strongly against her ear, its steady beat calming her frazzled being. The scent that she had come to associate as Alec enveloped her protectively.

In other words, she felt safe.

Somehow, her walls she had so carefully built had shattered with the return of the missing pieces of her memory. It was as if she did not have the energy to keep the barriers up.

Not anymore.

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: Nope…no cliffies this time. Hehe! Thanks for reading and I hope that you'll review to tell me what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Sorry! (sighs) I know I've taken a long time to complete this chapter but hopefully, the length of the chapter makes up for it. There are only two more chapters to go, by the way. Thank you for reading and reviewing the last chapter. Oh, a quick warning - There are some adult themes in this chapter.

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 8**

(by elle6778)

It was strange how things had turned out between her and Alec. Of all the members of her new unit, Alec was the last one she would have expected to actually get along with. But to her surprise, things had been going well between them. In fact, she was beginning to suspect that she was falling for him.

The idea disturbed her.

It was simply because she was not sure if this feeling of hers was for Alec specifically, or it was a remnant of her affections for Ben. Although things between her and Ben had been over for years, it still felt weird to be having _those_ kind of thoughts about his twin.

Not to mention she felt strangely guilty to be thinking about such things when Ben might be still live, holed up in some torture chamber. It just did not seem right to be actually feeling _good_ knowing that Ben could be tortured at the very moment.

Her eyes hardened at the thought. When Manticore finally tracked them down, she would make sure that she was part of the offence team. She would like nothing more than to sink her fingers in those militants' throats and squeeze the last breath out of them. And she hoped fervently that they would be able to find Ben.

If he was still alive.

The uncertainty of not knowing whether or not Ben was alive was worse than the assumption that he was dead. At least there had been some form of closure in his death. But now, Max found herself in a sort of weird limbo. Somehow, with this hanging over her head, she could not help but feel slightly uncomfortable with her feelings for Alec.

"Hey, are you done with the shower?"

Startled, she jumped, almost slipping on the wet floor. Turning, she glowered at a half-dressed Alec. "Do you mind not shouting like that?"

Alec smirked. "I'm just making sure that you won't drown yourself."

She rolled her eyes. "As if."

"Are you done yet? I'm starving."

"You're always starving," she muttered, turning off the showers. Grabbing a towel, she quickly dried herself and donned her Manticore issue kit.

"Finally!" he said with an exaggerated sigh as she joined him.

"Oh, shut up!"

* * *

Alec sneaked a look out of the corner of his eyes at the dark haired girl beside him. Seemingly preoccupied with her thought, she was munching slowly on her toast. Ever since the incident outside Lydecker's room, things had been different between them. She still preferred to keep to herself, but she was no longer withdrawn around him.

In the last few weeks, more often than not, he had found himself waking up earlier than his usual time such that he ended up being in the showers at the same time as her. And then, they would end up in the mess hall together. He had found it surprisingly easy to talk to her, now that both of them had dropped their mutual animosity. Their conversation touched on varied topics, from their missions to their favourite food. Only two subjects were conspicuously absent from their conversation, namely Ben and Sam.

Alec figured that any conversation about Ben would probably not end well, considering her attachment to his twin. As for him, he had avoided talking about Sam simply because anything to do with Sam was too painful for him to drag up.

Staring down at his plate, his hands tightened around his fork and knife as he remembered the last argument that had taken place between him and Sam.

_His face was set in a stony expression as he walked rapidly away from the irate female. His heart sank when he heard the softer, but no less rapid footsteps behind him. He really did not want to go through this again. It was as if they were caught in a stalemate. _

_Neither of them was giving in._

_Her attraction towards him made him feel acutely uncomfortable. Much as he enjoyed her company as part of his unit, he simply could not envision himself with her in a more intimate setting. More than once, he had hinted his opinions to her, but she either brushed it off, or ignored him._

_Alec gritted his teeth, knowing that he had to put a stop to it, not matter what cost. Subtlety had not worked with her and he knew that unless he was ruthless about it, the same scenario would recur over and over again. She would get over it with time._

_Stopping, he turned around abruptly._

_Sam skidded to a halt in front of him, placing her palms on his chest to steady herself._

_He immediately brushed her hands away. "Don't touch me," he hissed._

_For a fraction of a second, her eyes widened in surprise before they flashed angrily. "I just want to talk, Alec!"_

_His jaw ticked. "So talk," he gritted out._

_She hesitated._

_He gave her a hard look. "I don't have all day, Sam!"_

"_What the hell is wrong with you?" Her tone belied her bewilderment._

"_Nothing, apart from the fact that you refuse to leave me in peace."_

"_Is this because of what I told you? Are you avoiding me because I have feelings for you?" she demanded to know._

"_Whatever feelings you got, you'll get over it soon enough," he said flatly, not really answering her question._

_She looked hurt. "Is the entire idea of being with me so bad that you have to do this? That you have to treat me so coldly?"_

"_Honestly, Sam? The whole idea freaks me out. I just don't see you that way. The whole damned thing is just sick!"_

_She cringed visibly. Then, after a long moment, she drew in a shaky breath. When she raised her eyes to meet his, the chocolate brown orbs were hard. "Fine."_

With that, she swivelled round and stalked away proudly.

Alec released a heavy sigh. Every time he thought about it, he wished that he had said something else to her. If he had known that that was the last real conversation they were going to have, he would have curbed his poisonous tongue. Hindsight, however, did not do him any good. Nor did it relieve the guilt he had been feeling ever since he had found her body lying lifeless in the rain.

"Hey…"

He looked up to find Max raising a brow at him. "What's the deal with that look you're giving me?"

Calling forth a smirk, he retorted, "Just checking if you're still staring at perfection."

As expected, she rolled her eyes. "Get over yourself Alec. You head might explode one day."

"And I'm sure that will be a sad day for females worldwide."

Max groaned. "I think I just lost my appetite."

"More for me then," he quipped, spearing a piece of toast from her plate.

"HEY!"

Quickly shoving the piece of toast into his mouth, Alec simply smirked at her. "Too late."

Grumbling under her breath, she finished off whatever remained of her breakfast and stood up.

Grinning at her back, he followed suit.

* * *

Almost choking with mirth, Max blurred down the hallway leading to her cell, Alec hot on her heels.

Alright, perhaps she should not have given in to the urge to play that nasty trick on him. But the idea had been too tempting for her to resist. After all, how often did one get to see their CO sprawled ungracefully on the mess hall floor in front of the entire facility at dinnertime? It had simply taken her a couple of minutes to undo the fixings on his chair. The collapse and the subsequent look on his face had been priceless.

But boy, was he mad, Max thought as she skidded into her cell and immediately tried to slam the door shut.

The force from the other side prevented her from doing so and instead, she found herself knocked down onto the floor. Biting her lips to contain her laughter, she stood up and held her hands out in surrender.

"Okay…okay…I'm sorry! But you're overreacting!"

Advancing, he glowered at her. "You'll pay for that trick."

She backed away. "Oh, come on, Alec. Don't you have a sense of humour?"

"Not when it's at my expense," he retorted.

Then to her alarm, a gleam entered his eyes as he quickened his steps towards her.

"Hey, wait. What are you-"

Her words were cut short as he tackled her to the ground. As his fingers found her ribs, her eyes shot open at his method of revenge. Laughing at the tickling sensation, she squirmed in his hold.

"No! Let me go, you ass!" she gasped out between her laughter.

Grinning, he continued to tickle her mercilessly. "Beg me."

"I-I didn't know you're the dominating type, Alec," she choked out, trying to kick him.

He responded to her action by squashing her down with his heavier mass. A gust of air escaped her lips with a loud groan. She tried to escape, but soon realised that he had her pinned down too well. Her eyes shot up towards his, ready to deliver a scathing warning, but her words died on her lips.

He was deeply into her eyes, his mouth slightly parted. The hazel depths flickered in some unnamed emotion and she held her breath. He looked as if he wanted to kiss her. Or was it simply her imagination playing tricks on her?

Her question was answered a moment later when he lowered his head.

Their lips touched in the barest of caress, tentative in its nature. He raised his head slightly and watched her through heady lidded eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. Then, determination crossed his features and he dipped down again. Max let out an involuntary gasp as his tongue stroked her lips before he entered her mouth. With a groan of surrender, she responded to his kisses feverishly. He was just as unrestrained. Their tongues, lips and teeth battled for dominance. Neither winning, neither losing.

She was barely aware that his hands had moved from her sides to slip under her top. The first touch of his hands on her breast made her pull away from his lips, her back arching towards him. A satisfied smirk crossed his lips, eliciting a glare from her.

"Like it, Max?" he teased as he flicked her stiffening nipples through her bra.

Shots of pleasure ran from the tips he was teasing down her body, rendering her temporarily incapable of speech. Those hands sifted and the next thing Max knew, her bra was pushed up and his bare hands were kneading her breasts insistently. She let out a deep moan as her entire body responded heatedly. Her own hands had slipped under his shirt, stroking and grasping his firm muscles convulsively.

"Alec," she whispered. Did she really want to do this? Was she comfortable enough with Alec to do this? She could not lie to herself. She did not know when it had begun, but she definitely did not want this to stop.

With a hurried move, he managed to pull her top and her bra over her head, leaving her bare to his gaze. She watched as his hazel eyes darkened as he took in her form. It was nothing he had not seen before, considering their encounters during the morning showers. Nevertheless, his unwavering gaze made her feel conscious of the numerous scars marring her body. This must be a far cry from what he was used to seeing, she thought humourlessly.

Lifting her arms, she made a move to cover herself.

Before she could shield her body, Alec grasped her wrists gently. "No. I want to see you."

She blinked hesitantly, unsure what to do. "Um…I…"

Leaning down to one side, he nuzzled her neck and whispered into her ear. "You're beautiful. And your body drives me crazy. Did you not realise that I've been taking cold showers?"

Flushing at his words, she slowly dropped her arms.

A second later, she found herself moaning uncontrollably as his tongue and lips played with her exposed breasts. Each nip and lick aroused her further until she thought that she could not stand it any longer. The heat between her legs grew more intense and she clenched her thighs together in an attempt to relieve it.

Alec lifted his head to kiss her fully on the lips. As their eyes locked, she saw a knowing gleam in his. She held her breath, wondering if he was planning to go any further. If he did not, she would kill him, she thought darkly.

His eyes never left hers as his hands travelled south. In a quick move, she found her pants unzipped and his fingers tangled in her damp curls.

"You're wet for me," he whispered smugly as he slid his hands further into her pants.

A loud moan was issued from her lips when his fingers pressed against her aching core. Her eyes fluttered shut. Yes, she knew she was very wet down there. His slow, stroking movements were clouding her mind, making her forget everything except the feel of his fingers between her legs.

Her eyes shot open when he drove into her for the first time, her mouth parting in a gasp. Then he pumped his fingers into her steadily. It did not take long for her to reach the peak.

Even before her tremors had subsided, she grabbed him and pulled him down for a rough kiss. Standing up unsteadily, her fingers were rushed as she undressed him. She only stilled when his muscular body was fully exposed to her, its lean ridges and lines egging her to touch what she had only been allowed to see before then.

She touched him everywhere, as if she wanted to memorise the feel of her body. His hand clenched spasmodically in her hair and his rasps of pleasure brought her body to a new heat.

With a growl, she found herself lifted up and pushed against the wall. Her breath caught in her throat as he entered her in one strong thrust, stretching her walls with his generous size. Eyes locked onto hers, he began to pump into her with long, hard strokes. Her mouth open in a silent gasp as the pressure began to build inside her.

Their lips locked together in a heated kiss as she bucked to meet him. Soon, their breaths became more erratic and their movements more jerky. As she screamed her completion into his mouth, he thrust hard into her and shouted his own release.

Her body sated and drained, she slumped into his arms.

* * *

Propped up on one hand, Alec watched as the girl beside him slept. Tendrils of her dark hair framed her face, making her seem almost like a child. Sighing, he stroked her cheeks softly.

Their coupling had been explosive, mimicking the trend of their relationship so far.

He had slept with many females, but something told him that he would never find someone else like Max. He wondered if she felt the same. Snorting inwardly, he suddenly realised what he was thinking. This sort of contemplation was highly unusual for him. He must be growing soft. But still, he could not deny that he felt something for this fiery female.

Sighing again, he dropped his head to lie down fully beside her.

He had almost nodded off when he heard her voice.

"Ben…"

The instant her sleepy murmur registered in his mind, Alec tensed. His blood ran cold at the implication of that one single word. His mind protested vehemently but he could do nothing except to clamp down on his urge to wake her up to demand an explanation. He needed to think about it first.

Slowly, as to not wake her, he inched himself off her bunk, staring at her all the while. Oblivious to his movements, she snuggled deeper into her pillow. He waited with bated breath to see if she would say anything else but she slept on silently.

Tearing his eyes away from her, he went to the door and let himself out of her cell. As the door clicked shut behind him, he made his way back to his own cell somewhat numbly. He only allowed himself to breathe normally when he was seated on his bunk.

It was more than evident that consciously or unconsciously, Max had been thinking about Ben. Why else would she be calling out Ben's name in her sleep so soon after what they had done? The thought that he, Alec, was simply a replacement for her first love did not sit well with him. In fact, the entire thought sickened him. Just because he _looked_ like Ben, it did not mean that he _was_ Ben.

A niggling thought in his mind nudged at him. He was accusing Max of using him as a replacement for his twin, but was he so sure that he was innocent of the same vice?

He threaded his fingers roughly through his hair, his brows pinched as he mulled over the idea. Was he doing this for the same reason as Max?

He did not know how things had been left between Max and Ben when she had been captured. But things had been left unresolved when Sam had died. Was he subconsciously trying to make up for his mistakes with Sam through Max? Was this some sort of atonement? Had he been unable to separate the two of them after all?

In which case, he was not being fair to Max. He grimaced. Not that she had been fair to him either.

But they had been happy for the last few weeks, his inner voice protested. He had never felt the same with Sam as he did with Max. Did that mean that he had managed to separate them after all? But how could he be sure that he had not been lying to himself? How could he be sure that _Max _had not been lying to herself?

Slumping forward, he buried his face in his hand in defeat. It was a long time before he raised his head again. But when he did, the pain still remained.

It was hopeless. Everything was too blurred, too unclear. There were too many grey areas.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He guessed both of them simply had too many skeletons in their closets for this entire thing between them to work out anyway. If he was smart, he should remove himself from the situation as soon as he could before he was in too deep.

Ignoring the screaming protests of his inner voice, his expression turned resolute as he made his decision.

* * *

Alec was seated at the other end of the table again, Max noticed with no small amount of dismay and confusion. She had been trying to catch his attention since yesterday, but he had always found some excuse or other to turn away from her.

Biting her lips, Max stared down blankly at her plate. The clanging of cutlery against ceramic plates while the rest of the transgenics devoured their lunch went unnoticed by her. She did not understand his sudden change in behaviour. Things had been fine. More than fine. And then suddenly he did a complete turnaround and reverted back to his previous detached manner.

What was going on?

Was it just a fling for him? Was she simply a challenge that he had set his eyes on? And now that he had gotten what he wanted, he no longer wanted to be near her? A bubble of irritation grew within and she clenched her fists tight. What did he think she was? Someone to be toyed with and then discarded?

Or did he realise that it was a mistake and was now regretting it? Her eyes darkened in anguish. Had he been expecting something else and was disappointed when his expectations were not fulfilled? Had he taken a good look at her and decided that he did not want damaged goods after all?

She bit her lips harder, blinking back the sudden stinging feeling behind her lids.

Involuntarily, her eyes went to other end of the table again. Compared to the feeling of turmoil within her, his profile betrayed nothing but absolute calmness. It was as if the whole thing had never happened. It was like he had erased the entire event and now they were back to how they had been when she first arrived.

Had it been that bad for him? Had their coupling two nights ago been the reason for his sudden change in behaviour?

She blinked rapidly and looked down at her plate. Her fists were still clenched around her fork, and only now she noticed that she had unwittingly bent the metal in her uncompromising grip. Loosening her fingers, she let the abused fork fall on the table with a soft clang.

She should have known that it was too good to be true. Luck had never been on her side, especially these few years. Nothing seemed to be going right, from the failed mission, to the subsequent reintroduction to other units. It was as if she was jinxed.

Her lips twisted at her bitter thought. At least she was still on good terms with the rest of Unit 6. It could be worse.

Yeah, but for how long? One day, they might decide to pull the same thing as Alec.

"Max?"

She looked up to find Biggs staring at her with an expression of concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Pasting a watery smile on her lips, she replied, "Yeah."

He frowned. "You look like something is bothering you."

Max shrugged. "I'm just tired, that's all."

Biggs looked as if he wanted to grill her further, but then changed his mind. With a cheerful smile, he said, "Well, I've got something for you."

Surprised, her eyes widened a little. "Something for me?"

Was this Biggs' way of trying to cheer her up? She thought for a moment and then decided that he could not have possibly known that she was feeling upset about Alec until now. So he must have had something planned for a while.

Biggs nodded. "Yeah. But you need to sacrifice one of your off days."

Her eyes softened. She could do worse than spend her day off with Biggs. Maybe that was all she needed to get her mind off Alec. A distraction. "What do you have in mind?"

Biggs grinned mischievously. "It's a surprise."

Max gave him a mock-irritated look, at which Biggs' grin grew wider. "Hey, it's no fun if I tell you now," he pointed out.

She laughed, finally feeling lighter. Alec was still at the back of her mind, but what the hell? She was not going to continue to drive herself crazy thinking about him.

At least, that was what she hoped.

* * *

Alec's eyes narrowed into slits as he watched the two laughing figures roaring out of the compound on a sleek Ninja. Seated close behind Max, Biggs had a hand on her left hip while his other hand was busy swatting her streaming hair out of his face. The bike swayed precariously as they turned the corner, eliciting a yell of alarm from Biggs before they disappeared out of sight.

With a disgusted snort, Alec turned away from the window and went back to the television in the Recreation Room. No one was there apart from him. It seemed that everyone had something to do today. As he glowered at the flickering screen, Alec wondered if he should have accepted Ren's invitation to join his outing. But he knew that even if he had accepted, it would not bring him out of this funk that he had sunken in.

It had been sixteen days since he had left her room.

But he was not counting.

No. He was definitely not counting.

For the last sixteen days, they had not spoken to each other unless it was absolutely necessary. Anything they had said to each other had always been mission or training related. She had not challenged him on anything or raised her voice at him. He would ask a question and she would answer calmly and emotionlessly like a perfect little soldier. He would give an order and she would simply carry it obediently.

Perfect.

He hated it.

But what he hated most, much as it galled him to admit it, was her growing closeness to Biggs. Not that they had not been close before, but now they were nothing short of inseparable. He had not been able to catch the either of them alone for the last two weeks.

What riled him the most was what he had found out a few days ago. He knew he should not care, but he could not help the horrible twisting feeling in his gut when he had found out about it.

Figuring that the only time he could catch Biggs was when he was safely tucked in his bunk, Alec had gone to his cell. However, he had been dumbfounded to find an empty bunk which looked as if it had not been slept in for days. Further to a line of subtle questioning, he had managed to find out that Biggs had been spending his nights in Max's cell.

His face tightened at the memory.

Why should he care anyway? It was obvious that she held no real feelings for him. After all, she had called out _his_ name, when they had been doing _that_. The mere thought of it was enough to make his blood boil. Not to mention that it did not take long for her to accept Biggs's affections.

Alec glowered darkly. Perhaps Biggs would have better luck with her.

Inhaling deeply and letting out his breath slowly, he willed himself to stop thinking about Max. It was none of his business after all.

He would not think about her anymore.

He would not.

* * *

Max let out a sigh of relief when she finally completed the form. By now, she could almost do it blindfolded. Her brows furrowed as she thought about her Psy-Ops sessions, which had necessitated this pointless exercise of filling in an after-session form.

Following her confrontation with Lydecker, she had volunteered herself up for sessions with Psy-ops in the hope that they might be able to extract information that might still be buried in her subconscious. If there were any chance that Ben was alive, she would make sure that they got him back.

What frustrated her the most was the fact that she was kept in the dark about whatever information Psy-Ops had gleaned from the sessions. So she did not even know if the entire exercise was of any use.

Max looked up as a shadow fell over her. She let her smile widen as her eyes landed on Biggs's grinning face.

The dark-haired transgenic had been a lifesaver ever since the entire painful episode with Alec. Biggs's constant presence meant that she had not been able to mope. Instead, he forced her to continue her life as if nothing had gone wrong. Nothing had been said about her and Alec apart from that one time Biggs asked if everything was alright between them. To which she had replied that Alec was a jerk. Biggs had given her a weird look and he no longer broached the subject.

Even Lydecker had asked, she thought irritably. The old man had summoned her one day specifically to grill her about what was happening between her and Alec. Was there no privacy in this place?

Biggs's voice jerked her out of her contemplation. "That's one serious look you've got there," he remarked.

Shaking away her thoughts, she shook her head. "Nah! Just thinking about…things."

His brow popped up. "Whatever it is you're thinking, I didn't do it," he declared quickly.

She grinned. Biggs always had a way to bring a smile to her lips.

His eyes softened. "I like it when you do that."

"What?"

"Smile."

She gaped at him. The sudden rise of heat in her face told her that she was blushing. "Um… Biggs?"

Looking as if he was completely unaware of her embarrassment, he simply raised a questioning brow. "Yeah?"

"Are you coming on to me?" she ventured uncertainly.

His eyes flickered. "What if I am?" he said, sounding uncharacteristically sober.

She sighed, confused at her own emotions. Biggs was cute, funny and caring; all the things that any female would ask for. Heck, she was not unaware of those enviously looks she had gotten from the female half the facility ever since Biggs became a permanent fixture to her side. She should be happy that she got his attention. She should be jumping up, flinging her arms around him instead of averting her eyes guiltily.

So why did it make her feel so edgy?

Was it because of Alec?

A painful twinge in her heart told her that she had hit the nail on the head. Damn it! Was she never going to get over the jerk?

"Max?"

Hating herself for not returning his feelings, she looked up at him, preparing herself to hurt him. "Uh…Biggs…" she faltered miserably.

He blinked at her. And then to her surprise, his lips widened into a mischievous grin. "I was just kidding around, you know?"

She stared at him wordlessly, trying to digest his words.

His eyes gleamed. "You didn't really think that I wanted to get into your pants, did you?" he teased and then paused. A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Hmm… but now that I think about that great ass…"

"Biggs!" she interjected as she finally regained her composure. The guy was kidding around as usual, after all. For a moment, she was really worried that she would wreck their friendship,

"But why would I tie myself down to _one_ possessive female when I could have the whole facility."

Max groaned. "You're sick, Biggs."

He simply grinned. "But you love me anyway."

Max snorted.

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what you think:)


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: It has been so long that I wonder if anyone remembers this story:P. I apologise for taking such a long time to get this out, but I tried! Really! Anyway, there is only one more chapter to go after this one, and although I cannot promise that I'll update soon, I promise that I WILL update it. In the meantime, I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Echoes of the Past - Chapter 9**

(by elle6778)

They were at it again, Alec thought darkly.

Acting ridiculously immature for a Second In Command, Biggs prodded Max's ribs, making her jump. A squeak escaped her lips before she could stifle it. But when the Drill Sergeant turned around, neither of them had a hair out of place.

Alec narrowed his eyes. In about a minute, if they did not put a stop to their antics, he would forcibly toss them apart. It was his right as the CO after all.

Attempting not to think about Max's relationship with Biggs proved to be an impossible undertaking considering that they kept flaunting it right under his nose. Unfortunately, the more Alec saw them together, the more he was convinced that his feelings for her were going to remain.

Another alarming thing that occurred to him was that he had barely spared a thought to Sam in the last few weeks. It made him wonder if he had been wrong to even _think_ of Sam and Max in the same vein. And that, of course, led to the thought that he might have been mistaken about the thing with Ben.

The Drill Sergeant droned on about the latest experimental weapons, but Alec was not paying any attention. Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed that the lecture had ended and most of his unit had left the room.

To his surprise, Biggs remained seated as Max left. The second the room cleared completely, his Second In Command turned around to look at him.

"Hey, buddy. Been a while since we caught up, huh?"

Keeping his face blank, Alec replied, "You've been busy."

Biggs raised an eyebrow. "Actually, no. But you've been wearing that face for the last two weeks. The one that scares the shit out of me."

Turning away from Biggs, Alec replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"What's wrong with you?"

Alec looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Nothing." His voice was flat.

Bigg's eyes bugged. "Nothing? You call walking around with that pathetic face nothing?"

"What are you on about, Biggs?" Alec snapped, his annoyance with the entire situation finally getting to him. What did Biggs care anyway? He was the one Max had chosen in the end. Why did he have to rub it in?

Biggs just stared at him wordlessly. And then he raised a knowing brow. "This is about Max, isn't it?"

Stiffening involuntarily, Alec bit out, "Max is your problem. Nothing to do with me."

"Oh? Why don't I believe you?"

Alec stood up abruptly, uncaring that the chair had fallen over behind him. "I don't have time for this, Biggs." His steps were jerky as stepped towards the door.

"Oh, no, you don't…" Biggs warned just before Alec felt himself being grabbed from behind and pinned to the wall.

He glared at Biggs furiously. "What the hell-?"

"You're being an idiot," Biggs told him calmly. "World-class idiot," he added.

Alec narrowed his eyes. "Let me go." His voice was cold.

The hand grasping his neck loosened as Biggs took a step back.

With a heavy sigh, Biggs rubbed his eyes. "Just listen for a minute, alright? Just a minute."

"What?" Alec snapped harshly.

"Max."

Alec's eyes hardened. "What about her?"

"She's hurting."

A feeling of concern washed over him before he could stop it. He immediately composed his face into utter blandness. "What do you mean, she's hurting?" Did Biggs hurt her? Did the stupid tomcat sleep with some other female and Max had found out about it?

Biggs' eyes were unwavering as they gazed into his hazel ones. "Because of you."

Disbelief flashed across Alec's expression. "What?"

"She wants you, not me," Biggs finally said quietly.

A heavy silence descended upon them.

Max wanted him? But then, what about Biggs? Why was Biggs telling him this unless there was really nothing going on with the two of them? Or was this Biggs' way of breaking off with Max? Unsure what to do, he just stared at Biggs.

The other transgenic broke the silence. "Alec. Think about it, okay? She was happy until you decided to be a jerk."

"A jerk?" Alec echoed incredulously.

"Yeah. Because you were blowing hot and cold. How's the girl supposed to know how you feel?"

Alec frowned at Biggs. "Why didn't she say a thing?"

Biggs have him a dry look. "This is Max we're talking about, remember?"

Alec rubbed the back of his neck, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. What Biggs had told him made sense to him. But was it just because he wanted to believe it?

* * *

She could hear the hushed whispers around her. Not that she did not know what everyone was whispering about. She was just as baffled as they were at Lydecker's sudden call for a briefing. As far as all of them knew, they were not due for a mission just yet, seeing that they had just returned from one not too long ago.

When the door to the briefing room opened to admit Lydecker, the hushed whispers instantly died down. Pairs of transgenic eyes locked onto the lone figure standing by the projector.

"You're called in because you have a new mission."

The air suddenly buzzed with excitement. Max grinned. They were truly sad if all they lived for was more missions, but then again, that was precisely why they were created in the first place.

"I believe most of you are aware of the disaster involving unit 2."

Max instantly paled. Lydecker could not be saying what she thought he was saying could he? As if sensing her thoughts, Lydecker's eyes went to her and to her amazement, she saw a flicker of understanding in them.

Turning away from her, he continued, "We always knew that the day would come when the militants who killed Unit 2 would rise again. The base Unit 2 had blown up was not the main one. As of yesterday, we have the information on the main base. Manticore wants to shut them down before they do more damage." Lydecker's eyes hardened. "Particularly now that the militants know about us."

A collective gasp echoed around the room.

Max swallowed hard. Ben. Ben could be alive. Ben could be the one who was forced to tell the militants who and where they were. They must have broken him. The thought of it made her go numb with rage. Her fists clenched at the need to do some real violence.

Face impassive, Lydecker pushed a stack of files towards them. "You will find out all you need to know from these files. Study them carefully." At the transgenics' murmurs of assent, Lydecker continued, "We have no time to wait. We will mobilise at 1700 hours today. You have the afternoon to prepare. ETA at our target destination is 0600 hours tomorrow. You are dismissed."

Max sat frozen to the chair as the rest of the transgenics filed out. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noted that Alec had paused to look back at her, but she did not bother to look at him. Instead, her attention was fixed to the older man at the front of the briefing room.

When the last transgenic had left the room, leaving her and Lydecker staring at each other, Max finally found her voice.

"Do you think Ben is alive?"

Lydecker regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. His voice was grave when he said, "It is possible."

She shot to her feet, her entire body coiled with determination. "I will find him."

"Don't do anything stupid, Max," Lydecker admonished sharply. "We've waited a long time to bring these militants down and we have no margin for errors."

"I know what I'm doing," she said tightly.

Lydecker sighed. "I knew that they would turn up again. And this was one of the reasons why you're in Alec's unit. I could only send the best out to beat those militants."

Max stared at him mutely.

Then Lydecker's eyes hardened. "But even the best could be destroyed, as you know."

He was referring to Unit 2, Max thought. Yes, the best had been beaten. "I will be careful," she assured him.

"Make sure that you do."

* * *

The view from the chopper was breathtaking, if Alec was one to appreciate such a thing.

He was not.

His entire mind was focussed on the mission ahead. Well, almost, he thought as he snuck a glance at the dark-haired girl at the other end of the chopper. Ever since his conversation with Biggs, he had been trying to find an opportunity to speak to Max, but everyone had been busy preparing for the mission.

Alec returned his gaze out of the window. The sea seemed endless under them, only dotted randomly by rocky islands. There was no land access, Alec noted. One could only approach those islands by air or by water, both of which would alert the island's inhabitants of any intruders. The perfect setting for an underground base for the terrorists.

Which was why Brain had come up with the crazy plan.

Nothing could be crazier than swimming miles across the ocean protected by nothing but wet suits in a shark infested sea. Staring darkly at the seemingly calm surface of the water, Alec made a note to have a word with Brain about his sanity. As brilliant tactician as he was, Brain sure came up with the most dangerous ideas.

"We're approaching the drop off point," the pilot announced.

Alec stood up. "Alright, guys. Check your kit and be prepared to take a swim."

The transgenics immediately snapped into motion. Once they had completed the inspection on their diving equipments, they stood at the gaping opening at the side of the chopper, awaiting his instructions. Alec glanced at his watch, noting that it was about time to mobilise.

"Ready?" he asked, shifting his tank into place.

A chorus of muffled consent rumbled from the masked transgenics as the chopper descended closer to the undulating sea. Ignoring the wind whipping against his dive suit, Alec pushed himself out of the chopper and was soon submerged in water.

One by one, his team mates splashed into the sea, joining him. Once they all gained their bearings, Alec signalled for them to move. It took them almost an hour to traverse underwater across the rough sea to reach their destination. Thankfully, the sharks did not make an appearance.

Once the rocky perimeter of the island came into view, Alec glanced up and was presented with the view of the underside of a number of patrol boats. They had expected this, and the choppers would take care of the boats once the signal was given. Turning around to face his comrades, Alec nodded at them and signalled for them to split up.

With tiny bubbles of air floating up from him, Biggs nodded back and proceeded to dive away in the opposite direction. His team would be covering the island from the other side while Alec lead his to the control centre. From his studies of the wave patterns, Brain had been able to find them a safe access point. Gesturing for his teammates to move, Alec swam further east until he reached the underwater cave which graced the side of the rocky island.

It did not take long before they burst up to the surface to find themselves in an underground cavern. Without any delay, Alec quickly swam to the rocky shore. Following his example, Max, Ren, Laney, Silt and Page stripped off their diving gear, hiding the equipment behind a large rock outcrop.

"We need to head north," Max's quiet voice reached him.

"You got the coordinates?" Ren asked.

"Yeah. It shouldn't take long."

"According to Brain, we'll be encountering resistance all the way. This place is highly guarded, so keep your eyes open," Alec cautioned.

Silt grinned. "Don't we always?"

Alec smirked. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Stealthily, they made their way upwards, finding the tunnels to lead them out to the open. They filed down the dark tunnels, barely seeing where they were going even with their enhanced eyesight. However, soon Alec saw thin rays of sun shining up ahead. He followed it and found himself standing in a thick undergrowth, surrounded by towering trees in all directions.

"Forest," Ren commented as he looked around.

Max scanned the monitor in her palm. "We need to head east."

Alec nodded. "You heard her, soldiers. Let's go."

Keeping his senses wide alert, Alec led his team in the direction Max had indicated earlier. The thick forest growth whipped against him as he ran, but he ignored them, intent on reaching their destination.

Suddenly, a soft sound caught his attention. They had company, Alec decided as he lowered his hand to his weapon.

He swung his gun forward, aimed and took down the three militants before they could raise the alarm. The zipping sound from the gun's silencer, however, caught the attention of two other nearby militants. Max blurred forward, and with an efficient roundhouse, dispatched the two of them.

Without wasting a moment, they continued to blur across the forest towards the building they knew to be the control centre. Unfortunately, their approach was soon detected by another five patrolling militants. Alec grimaced as the militants raised their weapons. The transgenics blurred forward in a zigzag pattern such that the moment the first shot was fired, Alec and his team was already out of danger's path. The sound of the unsilenced gunshots, however, would no doubt alert the rest of the militants.

"Uh oh…The cat is out of the bag," Laney remarked as she flipped a militant away from her.

"I guess we'll be expecting more of them now," Alec said as he took down the last militant he could see.

Ren blurred past, heading in the direction of the control room.

Activating his comms, Alec spoke into it, "Team Alpha to Base."

"Base receiving," came the response.

"Blow up the patrol boats. They know we're here. Is that clear?"

"Affirmative, Alpha. And out."

Switching, Alec continued, "Team Beta, status report?"

A cracking sound came through his earpiece a moment before he heard Biggs' irritable voice. "Damn it! This place is stuffed full of idiots."

Alec frowned. "Your report, Commander."

"In the middle of a fight. No casualties on our side but the militants are going down."

"Well done, Team Beta."

"Kill the controls, will you? With the monitors on, we're sitting duck," Biggs pointed out.

"Understood."

With that, Alec blurred forward to join the rest of his team. Almost immediately, more militants appeared in their path. Working together, they managed to break down the resistance, leaving the path clear to the control room. Soon, their destination came into view. It was a small, one storey brick building, deceptively simple but housing powerful equipments. Behind the control room was a larger building. From Brain's information, the two buildings were connected at the basement.

Alec stiffened with surprise when Max blurred past him. What was her hurry, he wondered. He burst into the room just behind her only to find that Max was already engaged with a fight with two militants. More of them came pouring in from the next room, and Alec and the rest of the team swung their guns around. With a series of zipping sounds from the guns, the militants were lying dead on the ground.

Scanning the prone bodies dispassionately and then at the blinking consoles around the room, Alec inclined his head at the rest of the transgenics. "Download all you can and then kill their system," he instructed.

"Yes, sir!"

Spreading out, the transgenics began their task. Alec's gaze went to Max as she made a beeline towards the security monitors.

"Alec, they have data on Manticore here," Laney remarked quietly, drawing his attention away from Max.

Lips tightening, Alec went to the girl and peered into the screen. At first, he wondered if anyone else had the data, and then his brows furrowed as he continued to read the information before him.

"This doesn't look right," he said. Turning to Laney, he asked, "Is this all the information on Manticore?"

Laney nodded. "Looks like it. I've downloaded everything from the hard drives so that we can look into it properly back at base."

Finished with his own task, Silt strode up to them and looked into the screen. He looked confused. "It sounds like Manticore, but the information is all slightly wrong. But at first glance, it seems correct, though."

Alec frowned, wondering if Ben was still alive and had been the one feeding the militants faulty information. The moment the thought entered his mind, he snuck a sideways glance at Max. She was still occupied with something at the security monitors. Alec knew instinctively that Max was searching for his lost twin. The desperation in her movements were unmistakeable. Only Ben could elicit something like this from the female, Alec thought darkly. Would he always be second to his twin, he wondered.

Page's and Ren's approach broke him away from his thoughts. "All done," the transgenic reported.

Alec nodded and then activated his comms. "Status report?"

"We're ready to blow the place up," Biggs's voice came over the comms.

"Good," Alec responded, giving Max a sideways glance.

She was wearing a look which sent alarm bells ringing in his head. "When I've set the charges, I'm going to look for Ben," she declared firmly. "Don't wait for me if I don't come back in time."

Before he could say a word, Max broke away from the group and exited the room. No doubt she was heading to the other building. Annoyance mixed with concern as Alec glanced between her rapidly retreating back and the rest of the team members.

"Set the charges," Alec ordered, ignoring the curious looks from Ren and Laney as he rushed off towards Max.

He weaved down the steps to the basement, following the sound of Max's footsteps. Then the footsteps stopped. Alarmed, Alec slowed and crept soundlessly down the corridor.

"Max?" he called out cautiously.

"I'm here," she replied, climbing in through a hole in the wall. She did not meet his eyes when she continued. "The explosives will go off in twenty minutes."

Alec's lips thinned. Even though they were alone, she was still not talking to him unless it was work related. He had to do something about it when they got back. It was becoming a problem. But he had to admit that in all these weeks, she had never given him any reason to worry that she would let what happened between them affect their teamwork. She had been distant, yes, but not so that it jeopardised their mission.

"I'm going to look for Ben," she declared as she turned and jogged away from him.

He stiffened, for a moment too shocked to move as he stared at her diminishing figure. "What? Max!" he yelled, annoyed. She would get herself killed if the explosives went off. "Get your ass back here, soldier!"

Unsurprisingly, there was no reply apart from the sound of retreating footsteps. His lips thinned in annoyance. Then he rushed off after his wayward team member, intent on giving her a piece of his mind. The corridor was riddled with turnings in all direction, and if he did not possess his transgenic senses, Alec was certain that he would have gotten hopelessly lost in the maze of corridors. To his relief, he realised that was closing in on the sound of Max's footsteps.

Almost there, he told himself as he skidded around the corner into yet another corridor. Then his steps faltered when he heard a surprised gasp up ahead.

Had she found Ben?

The sound of a stifled sob pushed Alec back into motion. He ran to the end of the corridor and turned right, only to stop dead in his tracks as his eyes landed on two figures.

Ben.

Before him stood a tear-stained Max, holding up a person who looked as if he could not possibly be alive. A person who looked exactly like him, if not for the sunken cheeks, the shadowed eyes and the overgrown hair on his head and his face. From the looks of it, he could hardly stand, as emaciated as he was. A twinge of admiration coursed through Alec. He was not sure he could survive what Ben had gone through and still be alive.

The transgenic looked starved, but he managed to look up. When the two pairs of hazel eyes met, Alec recognised the shock in his twins. He did not blame Ben. Finding out that he had a twin this way must be quite shocking, not to mention being rescued after so many years.

Without breaking their eye contact, Ben opened his mouth. "Who are you?" he croaked through cracked lips.

Max tensed visibly as she looked between him and Ben. Alec could see the confusion in her eyes. An awkward look passed between them.

Deciding that they had delayed enough, Alec said levelly, "I'm Alec, your twin. We'll sit down and have a little tea party to get to know each other when we get out of this hellhole, brother."

Ben's eyes widened slightly, and then he nodded.

Stepping closer, Alec instructed, "Hand him to me, Max."

"I'm fine like this," she replied quietly, shifting Ben closer against her.

Alec's lips tightened, but he decided not to argue. Inclining his head back in the direction they had come from, he said, "Let's head back. We'll wait for the chopper on the roof."

With that, he began to jog away, willing himself not to look back or to think about the two transgenic behind him. How he felt when Max was with Biggs was nothing like how he felt now about Max being reunited with her lost love. This time it was worse, because he _knew_ that Max had deeper feelings for Ben.

Pushing those thoughts away, he forced himself to focus on the mission. Not breaking a step, he raised a hand and pressed the earpiece closer. "Come in, team. Are all the charges set? The main timer set?" he asked as he took the escape stairs leading to the roof.

"Affirmative." A chorus of reply came from the comms.

"Good. Time to split, guys," Alec said, his eyes darting around one last time to make sure that everything was in place.

Biggs voice crackled on. "I can see one of the choppers."

"Are you ready to go?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, we're just waiting for you."

"Don't wait. Lead Team Beta and head back first. We'll catch the next one."

"But what about backup?" Biggs asked.

"It's okay. The area is secure," Alec said as exited the building through the roof. Silt and Page were already on the roof. In the distance Alec could see Biggs' chopper hovering above ground.

"I can see your chopper. Get on it and we'll be right behind you."

"Gotcha. I'm setting the main timer now. See you back at base," Biggs replied and then went out.

Alec turned around just as Ren and Laney reached him from the other side of the roof. They were both ready to go. His eyes wandered behind him to find Max jogging up with Ben straddling her back. He quickly averted his gaze. The last thing he needed to think about right at that moment was his personal feelings.

The sound of a chopper overhead cut his thoughts short. A quick upwards glance told him that it was theirs. Gesturing towards the window, Alec said, "Let's go."

They jumped out, one after another, and ran towards the ladder hanging off the chopper. Page was the first to climb up the ladder. He disappeared from view for a moment, and then a stretcher was lowered down to them. Without delay, Alec helped Max to strap a now semi-conscious Ben to the stretcher. He tried to ignore the pain in her eyes when she watched Ben being pulled up into the chopper.

Turning around, Alec instructed, "Let's go, troops."

With a nod, Ren began to climb the ladder.

All of a sudden, a voice called out. "Stop right there!"

Alarmed, Alec spun around to see two men pointing their guns at them. Damn it, how could they have missed these two?

"Drop it," Alec growled. "You're outnumbered." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Max and Silt stepping slowly to the side, no doubt plotting a counter-attack.

One of the men sneered. "We're not going down alone."

Alec ducked just in time to avoid a hail of bullets from the automatic gun. A loud yell of pain rang out, but he had not time to look back. Rolling to one side, he bounced to his feet and blurred towards them. As he knocked out the gun from one of the men, he could see Max and Silt doing the same with the other.

It took him no time at all to render the man unconscious.

When he turned back to the chopper, he felt his heart fill with a feeling of dread.

"No…" Alec whispered as he ran back to the chopper.

Not again, he thought as his eyes went to the pool of blood around Ren. Silt, Max and Laney were gathered around the wounded transgenic, their expressions displaying their concern.

"How bad is it?" Alec asked, his voice tight.

"Three bullets. Entrance and exit wounds on his right thigh and left shoulder. But there one entrance with no exit in his midsection," Laney said, her voice trembling in her distress. "His breath is shallow."

"Bastards," Max hissed venomously as she shifted Ren into a more comfortable position.

Alec seethed as he saw a shiver wracked through Ren's body. If the militants were still alive, he would have killed them slower. There was no time to let his emotions cloud his mind, he told himself. They were in danger of being blown up together with the island.

Alec stood up. "Silt, if I strap him up to you, you think you can get him up?" he asked.

Silt nodded.

Before long, Silt was slowly making his way up the ladder as the rest of them watched silently. When he disappeared into the helicopter, Alec gestured to Laney. "You go first. Be quick. The charges are going to go off any moment now."

One by one, all of them went up.

Alec looked as his watch as the helicopter began to lift up. The island grew smaller and smaller as the chopper gained speed.

Still, there was no explosion.

It was odd, Alec thought. It should have gone off by now. And then he frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Max, do you remember…"

"Something's wrong," she interjected worriedly as she stared at the island in the distance.

Frowning, he nodded in agreement. "It should have gone off by now."

"Maybe the militants have set up an interference device," Silt supplied.

Alec closed his eyes in dread. That was what he had suspected as well. It meant that they had to find the device and disable it. That would be the easy part. The hard thing would be to get out before the place was blasted them into bits together with the island.

"I'll go," Max offered quietly.

Alec's eyes snapped open to dart a sharp look at Max. "No."

Max frowned. "Well, someone had to go and it can't be Silt, Ren or Page because they're injured. Laney can't go because is the only one here with any medical skills," she pointed out.

"You stay and I'll go," Alec ordered.

"You want this unit to lose a CO?" Max shot back. "Look, it's better for me to go. I'm relatively new to the unit anyway, remember?"

Alec could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Do you really think it's alright for this unit to lose you?" he snapped incredulously. "New or not, you're important to us."

Max's jaw dropped as she stared at him, her brown eyes flickering with emotion. Alec frowned. Did she not realise how important she had become to them?

"Hey, guys, this is really not the best time to snipe at each other," Laney admonished softly.

Knowing that Max would not back down, Alec finally said, "We'll both go." He gave Max a pointed look and pressed, "Agreed?"

"Fine," she replied flatly, and then turned her eyes to the sleeping Ben.

Once again, Alec forced himself to look away. He knew that now that Ben was back, he would probably have to get used to Max and Ben being together, but it did not make it any easier to accept.

Getting to his feet, Alec went to the pilot and stared down at the landscape beneath. "Turn back," he instructed. The buildings came into view and Alec honed in on the one which he housed the controls.

"Drop us off right there," he said, pointing at a spot near the bunkers.

"How are you going to get back?" Silt asked.

"We got our rafts in the bag, we'll kill whatever interference device they've planted and then head off to the nearest island."

The pilot frowned. "But…"

"Don't worry about us. You need to get back. Ren needs treatment immediately." He looked at Silt and Page. "And you two, make sure you get those wounds treated."

The two transgenic nodded.

Then he turned to Max. "Strap on your kit. We're going back in."

* * *

As Silt had suspected, the reason behind the explosives not going off was an interference device. It was black box hidden behind the control console, one which they had somehow missed in their earlier searches.

As Max pulled it out for closer inspection, she felt Alec leaning close to her. As always, her body reacted to his proximity, throwing her into a confused and irritated mess. The guy hated her guts, she reminded herself. He was the one who had been avoiding her since they had sex. He was the one who had turned cold on her.

So why did she still feel this way towards him? Had she fallen for him? She blinked in realisation as her thoughts echoed in her head. No, she protested silently. But it was useless to deny the truth in it.

She _had _fallen in love with the jerk.

Her breaths turned shallow. How could this have happened?

"Max?"

She jerked her eyes towards him, feeling rather guilty for her thoughts. He was staring at her questioningly, oblivious to what she was thinking. She swallowed hard as she averted her gaze. There was no way she would let him find out about her feelings for him.

Fixing her focus on the box in front of her, she said, "It's protected by an anti-tamper lock, but it shouldn't be too hard to disable it."

He leaned closer to look over her shoulders. When he spoke, his breath fanned against her cheek, sending a shiver up her spine. "Yeah, looks pretty standard from here. We got to move fast once it's disabled. The last explosive I check stopped at two minutes."

She nodded before turning her attention back to the box. Studying the wired connections carefully, she began to map out the circuit in her mind and her fingers separated them deftly. It did not take long before the green light on the box flicked to red, telling them that the box had been disabled. They needed to go now.

"Max?"

Something in his tone made her look at him warily. Alec had his eyes fixed on her, but he wore a decidedly uncomfortable look when he ran his hand over the back of his neck. Something was obviously bothering him.

"What?" she asked as she stood up and began to leave the room.

"We need to get out of here. But I know that once we're out, we probably won't be talking much," he said with a troubled frown. "So this is probably not the best time to talk about us. You know, closure and stuff."

"Us?" she echoed. Then she bristled. "What do you mean, 'us'? There's no 'us', so there's hardly any need for closure," she snapped, running along the corridor towards the exit.

Alec flinched visibly and then his expression turned dark. "Yeah, now that Ben is back, right?" he retorted heatedly as he ran beside her.

"Leave Ben out of this," she hissed as she followed him.

"Leave him out of this?" Alec gritted out, sounding incredulous. "How can I? When you call out his name while you were with me?!" he spat angrily as they exited out in the open.

Her jaw dropped. "W-What?" When the hell did she do something like that?

Then she paled when she realised what he was talking about. Alec must be referring to the that time when she muttered Ben's name after they had had sex. But not for the reason he had assumed. It was just her way to saying goodbye to her feelings for Ben. Knowing what she knew about her feelings for Alec, she now understood why she had apologised to Ben. Because she knew that what she felt for Ben was something completely different from what she felt for Alec.

Could this be the reason behind Alec's sudden coldness? It would explain a lot. But did it mean that he felt something for her, and was therefore jealous of Ben? Or was it simply because his ego was bruised?

Before she could think of a way to explain, Alec inhaled shakily. "Look, Max. Forget it, alright?" His voice was strained.

Max clamped her mouth shut. It looked like there had been a misunderstanding between them. She bit her lips, uncertain of how she should explain it. But it was clear that she needed to say something.

"Uh, Alec?"

"I said, forget it," he said in a clipped tone, turning away from her as he continued to run towards the cliff.

"It's not like that," she continued quietly, reaching back into her pack to retrieve a rope. They would need it to get down the cliff. She could hardly believe that they were having this discussion, now of all times.

"Me and Ben… We're not like that," she admitted as she unravelled the rope. "Not for a long time, anyway."

He stiffened. Without turning around, he said, "What you do with Ben is none of my business."

She gritted her teeth. There she was, trying her best to explain and he was just brushing the entire thing off. "You're such a jerk, Alec."

"Oh? Name calling now, Max?" he retorted with a raised eyebrow, holding out a hand for the rope. Then he nodded at a nearby tree. "I'll tie this to the tree," he said once she handed him the rope.

Still annoyed, Max simply watched as Alec secured the rope. When he was done, he gestured for her to go down. Deciding to continue the conversation once they were out of blasting range, she held on to the rope and backed down the cliff, her feline reflexes making the task easy. They were high up over the water and below, the waves were clashing against the rocks violently. Max suppressed a shudder, hoping that her hold on the rope would not accidentally slip.

As she swung herself further down the cliff, she saw Alec coming down the rope not far above her. It was when she was about seventy feet down, about halfway down the cliff that the first explosive detonated with a deafening rumble. Gritting her teeth, she held on tightly as the vibrations shook the air. A quick upward glance told her that Alec was alright.

Then their surroundings shook again when a series of explosives went off. Debris were flying over the cliff and Max pressed herself closer to the cliff to avoid being hit by a stray fragment.

The rope suddenly went slack for a moment before it tautened again. Max's eyes shot up to meet Alec's alarmed ones. She looked past him to the rope above, narrowing her eyes for better focus.

What she saw made her throat go dry.

The rope was frayed. A piece of sharp debris must have hit it, she realised with growing trepidation. Then her eyes widened further as a few more strands snapped.

"Max! We need to get down. NOW!" Alec yelled urgently.

Heart thudding rapidly in her chest, Max obeyed and began to descend as fast as she could. Even though they were transgenics, a seventy feet fall down the side of a cliff into a mass of sharp rocks underneath would kill them.

She suppressed a shudder of fear as the rope dipped again. More strands had snapped. They would not make it, she realised with horror. However fast she went, she would not make it down before the rope gave way to their combined weight.

But one of them might make it. She gulped. The thought of doing what she was about to do scared her, but she had no choice. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself.

"It's going to snap. It can't take both our weights," Max said to Alec with a calm she did not feel.

His eyes widened as understanding dawned. "No!" he protested vehemently. "Hold on tight. I'll climb back up."

"NO! Don't move!" The more they moved, the more likely that the rope would weaken.

"Don't be stupid, Max!" Alec snapped.

But instead of ascending, he shimmied down the rope and flipped over such that his legs were holding him upside down. Before she could guess his intent, his hand clamped around one of her sleeves, preventing her from doing what she knew had to be done if one of them was to survive.

Her eyes displayed her anguish, but her voice was unwavering when she shouted up at him. There was only one thing she could do. Otherwise, both of them wouldn't make it. "Let go of me, Alec."

"I'm not going to let you go!" he yelled desperately.

As a look of determination swept over her face, she saw his pale in horror. There was only one thing left for her to say. She felt oddly calm.

"I love you, Alec."

She felt his skin going cold as panic set into his hazel eyes. "Don't do this, Max!"

Then she yanked her arm out of his hold.

"Max!" she heard him yell desperately as she plummeted down the cliff.

Then there was nothing more.

No sound.

No one.

Nothing but darkness.

* * *

t.b.c.

A/N: I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you could, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me, but the plot is mine. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement was intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing the previous chapter. At long last, here's the final chapter of this story – FINALLY! I apologise for making you all wait so long. While I'm here, I'm going to take the opportunity to pimp my other works – So if any of you are fans of Inuyasha (Sesshoumaru/Kagome) or Naruto (Itachi/Sakura), feel free to check out my profile (grins).

Anyway, here is the final instalment and I hope you'll enjoy it.

* * *

**Echoes of the Past – Chapter 10**

(by elle6778)

Droplets of condensation graced the greenery overhead and dotted the long grass at his feet. The morning air was cold almost to the point of being frigid but still, the birds in the trees sang happily. The biting frost permeated his clothes, but he barely felt it. His eyes were fixed to the stones in front of him. Names had been carved onto the face of the stone as a tribute to those who had died during their missions.

Alec ran his hand over one of the stones. Manticore had made them to emulate headstones but he knew that there was nothing buried underneath. When any of them died, whenever possible, their organs were stored as a backup for future transplants. Manticore would not risk burying their supersoldiers in the ground just like that. It was far too risky. So they cauterised the bodies.

A flash of smile, the gleam of determination in her brown eyes, the swish of her dark hair when she turned around; all these images ran through his mind, making him smile. They had shared so much together and yet there was a limit to it.

It had taken a long time and a heart-stopping situation but he finally figured it out.

He touched the stone again and sighed.

It was time he let go of her. It was time he moved on and stop comparing the two of them.

"Goodbye, Sam," he whispered.

Eyes not leaving the stones, he backed away slowly only to halt at the faint sound of footsteps behind him. Glancing over his shoulders, Alec saw Ben walking towards him.

Three weeks of medication, therapy and rest had done Ben a whole lot of good. Although still somewhat thin, Ben was gradually nearing him in appearance. A smirk crossed Alec's lips. He could not wait to get his twin on the sparring mat to see just which one of them would emerge victorious. That was one way to wipe off the dark expression his twin always wore ever since he returned to Manticore. It did not take a genius to figure out that Ben had lost something in those years he had survived under torture. Still, Ben's gloominess rubbed him up the wrong way.

The other transgenic stopped before him. "Deck wants to see you in his office," Ben said, his features displaying its customary blandness.

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

Inclining his head at the headstone, Ben remarked, "They told me about her."

"They?"

"Your unit."

He must have a word with them about gossiping. Just because Ben was his twin, it did not mean that he wanted the guy to know everything.

Raising his brow, Alec retorted, "Yeah, so?"

"Something had gone on between you two, huh?"

Keeping his voice level, Alec replied, "It's none of your business."

The expression in Ben's eyes hardened. "Don't hurt Max. Or I'll make it my business."

Alec instantly tensed. "What's that? A warning?" he asked icily. It irritated him that Ben had the nerve to warn him off. Especially considering his involvement with Max in the past.

Ben stared at him stonily. "Take it anyway you like. But Max is the only one I have left and I'm not going to sit back and watch you hurt her."

"The thing between me and Max is exactly that. Between me and Max. It has nothing to do with you. So you can back off," Alec hissed.

"Oh, give it a break, the two of you!"

Alec spun around to find Max standing some distance away, her arms crossed over her chest as she frowned disapprovingly at them. She really should not be walking around but he knew that short of physically restraining her, there was nothing he could do. After all, Max's stubbornness was legendary, he thought dryly. He scanned her form, taking note of the white strips of reinforced fabric around her arms and neck.

Pointedly ignoring Ben, Alec fixed his full attention on her. "Hey, Max," he greeted, a grin making its way to his lips.

Glancing pointedly from one to another, Max remarked wryly, "Please tell me you're not barking at each other again."

Ben gave her a baleful look.

Smirking, Alec said, "Well, he's the one barking." Throwing one arm around her shoulders, he murmured into her ears, "I have no reason to bark, since someone has already picked me. I think the other one is jealous."

She shoved him away from her.

Taking a step back, he regarded her silently as she began to talk to Ben. Not for the first time, he was reminded of just how close he was to losing her permanently. Unbidden, the flashes of that day came to his mind.

"_Max, NO!" he yelled helplessly as she plunged down the cliff._

_Far below, the waves beneath crashed over her, blocking the small body from his view. She could not possibly be conscious after that fall. No, he had to get to her before she drowned and there was no time for him to lower himself down on the rope. _

_An idea occurred to him. His eyes scanned the terrain below, noting the locations of the rocks and the areas of deep sea water. A fraction of a second later, he found the perfect spot. He tightened his grip on the rope and kicked away from the cliff. _

_He swung out once, twice and when he knew that he was over the right spot, he let go. Spinning in midair, he manoeuvred his body into a dive position. The wind sped past him, faster and faster until the waves were right before his eyes. _

_He splashed into the water arms first. Gritting his teeth against the freezing cold, he opened his eyes and began to swim. The salty water stung his eyes each time the waves splashed over him, but that was the last thing he was concerned about. _

_Max. She was there a second ago, but where was she now? He had to find her._

_Holding his breath, he dove fully into the water. A muffled rumble reached him just a moment before he was pounded by a particularly forceful wave. At the back of his mind, it registered that part of the island was probably sinking into the ocean. They must have detonated too many explosives. Spotting a piece of falling rubble heading straight for him, Alec kicked away swiftly. He was beginning to get a little disoriented, but he could not afford to surface to check his bearings. He could not risk leaving Max in the water longer than necessary. _

_As he swam deeper, his eyes began to adapt to the dimness of his surrounding. Pieces of broken furniture floated past him, and he cursed inwardly at the additional obstruction._

_Then he saw a mass of dark hair._

_Heart thudding erratically, he sped towards her. When he reached her, he immediately pulled her into his arms. It was then that he noted with a sinking feeling that she was not moving at all. Her eyes were closed and her entire body was floating limply in the water. And there was no sign of air bubbles from her nose or her lips. _

_She was not breathing. _

_No he would not panic! _

_Lungs bursting with the need for air, Alec held on tight and kicked up, all the while hoping fervently that Max was still alive. It seemed like forever before he finally reached the surface. He gasped greedily for air the moment his head broke through the water. _

"_Max!" he choked out, shaking her desperately._

_She was not responding. He needed to get her to dry land. Forcibly suppressing his growing fear that Max might not make it, he scanned the remains of the island until he detected what looked like a stable piece of ground. Ignoring the fact that he was already pushed to his limits, Alec swiftly made his way towards it, carefully keeping Max's head above water. _

_When he reached, he immediately lowered her to the sandy ground. His hands went on her chest and he began to pump as he counted in his head. Forcing himself to focus, and not panic, he lowered his head and began resuscitating her. _

_Then she moved._

_He froze. "Max?" he whispered anxiously. _

_Then Max began to cough, spilling out spurts of seawater. Her body spasming, she continued to cough as he helped her up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to keep her upright. A strangled sound of relief escaped him as he pulled her tighter against him. She was alive. _

_She was ALIVE!_

"_A-Alec…" she choked out breathlessly._

"_Hey…hey… Don't try to talk. You almost drowned back there," he murmured gently._

_Her eyes widened as she glanced sharply at him. She seemed to be growing more alert. Then he frowned in concern as another coughing fit overcame her. _

"_See. What did I tell you? Just rest for a while, alright?"  
_

_She clutched at his arm. "H-How…"_

"_You didn't think I'll just let you drown after what you just said to me, right?" _

_She blinked at him for a moment, and then when comprehension dawned, her cheeks reddened. "Oh… that."_

_He grinned. "Yeah, that."_

_A scowl made its way to her features. "Just forget I said that, alright?" she muttered._

_He snorted. Trust Max to make light of what she had declared to him. Then he leaned down to nuzzle her neck. "You wish. It's not everyday that some violent chick tells me she loves me, you know?"_

_Her lips twitched. "Well, don't get too used to it."_

_He laughed._

* * *

There was a faraway look in Alec's eyes. Guessing that he was thinking about something weird from the various expressions crossing his features, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. 

"Earth to Alec!" she called out.

His expression instantly cleared. Smirking, he slung arm around her shoulders and tightened it. "Miss me already?" he drawled.

Rolling her eyes, Max retorted, "Yeah, right."

"Alec, Deck is waiting," Ben interjected flatly.

Alec shrugged as he released her. "Well, I've got to go see what Deck wants from me."

Max gave him a warning look as he leaned down to kiss her, knowing that he was deliberately doing it in front of Ben. Honestly, the two of them had better get along soon before she took matters in her hands and bashed their heads together.

Silently, she watched as he walked away from them.

Alec had changed towards her ever since they got back from their last mission. She guessed it must have something to do with the fact that she had almost died. Or maybe it was due to her sudden declaration. A small smile crossed her lips. It figured that something like that had to happen before they sorted things out between them. But at least now she knew that he felt the same towards her.

A sudden shuffling sound reminded her of Ben's presence. Turning around to face him, she asked curiously, "So, why are you out here? You're normally at your physical at this time."

"The medics cleared me yesterday. I came across Deck and he wanted me to pass a message to Alec to see him in the office."

She quirked a questioning brow.

Shaking his head, Ben added, "I don't know what it's all about."

Nudging towards their quarters, Max grabbed his arm. "Let's get back in. It's cold out here."

He nodded. Walking together side by side in companionable silence, they made their way across the grounds towards the three-storey block they shared with Unit 5. Her cell was the only place they could talk in private. Elsewhere, they would be subjected to curious stares and nosy questions.

As she pushed open the door to her cell, Max recalled the last time Alec had found them in there. His sarcastic remarks had been enough to tell her that he was jealous of Ben being in there. It was quite sweet really, considering his usual cocksure attitude.

Her musings were interrupted by Ben. "What's on your mind?" he asked as he sat on her bunk.

She grinned as she joined him, leaning against the wall. "Just remembering what Alec looked like the last time he found you in here."

"You really like him?" Ben asked gruffly.

She lowered her eyes. "Yeah, I guess," she muttered quietly.

"Why?"

Her eyes shot up. "What do you mean why? I just do."

Ben sighed. "Promise me you'll let me kick his ass if he makes you cry."

"I don't cry," she denied flatly.

Ben quirked a brow. "I've seen you cry before," he pointed out.

She gave him an incredulous look. "Oh, come on, Ben. I was a kid back then."

"Are you saying that you haven't cried since then?"

She glared at him mutely.

"I rest my case," Ben finally said.

Max groaned helplessly. "This big brother act is getting old."

"It's not an act. Anyway, better a big brother than a jealous rival, right?"

A slow grin made its way to her face. "Yeah, I guess so," she said softly. "You know, Alec isn't that bad."

He raised a disbelieving brow.

Gesturing at nothing in particular, she continued, "Sure we have our problems, but who doesn't?"

Linking his hands behind his head, Ben leaned against the wall. "Yeah."

As her gaze fell on his thoughtful expression, she could not help but think of how things had been without his presence. She had missed him, and she was glad that he was there, that they had found him alive during that mission. He had suffered so much that it was a miracle that he managed to survive at all. How long more would he have lasted if they had not turned up when they did?

Guilt washed over her suddenly. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she murmured, "You know, we should have looked harder."

Ben glanced sharply at her. "What are you talking about, Max?"

She shrugged. "You know. When you were gone, we should have looked harder for you."

A heavy silence descended upon them. Then Ben shook his head, sighing as he did so. "It's a big world, Max. You wouldn't have found me if I didn't let slip about Manticore."

"I'm glad you did."

A bitter smile crossed his face. His voice was filled with self-recrimination when he bit out, "But I broke. They tortured me and I broke. I-"

"Shut up, Ben!" she burst out, horrified that Ben was actually beating himself up over something stupid like that. Taking a deep breath, she continued in a calmer voice. "Look. You kept it together for more than eighteen months. And that's a lot to ask from someone, even a transgenic."

He stared at her wordlessly.

Then slowly, his lips tilted into a smirk. "Hey, what do you take me for? I'm the best out there," he declared cockily.

She could only roll her eyes in exasperation.

* * *

Feeling slightly irritated, Alec left the building which housed the mess hall and made his way down the covered walkway. Where was she? He had waited until everyone had left the mess hall, but there was no sign of Max. 

Someone was seated on one of the benches along the walkway, he noted.

It was Biggs.

Alec quickened his steps until he came up to the dark-haired transgenic. "Hey Biggs, have you seen Max?"

Biggs looked up from the knife he was sharpening. "Huh? Max?" He frowned thoughtfully. "Not since breakfast this morning."

"She didn't show up for lunch," Alec muttered as he sat down on the bench beside Biggs.

A gleam entered the dark-haired transgenic's eyes. "Maybe she's with Ben."

Alec shot an irritated look at him. His unit mates and every other person in Manticore seemed to find amusement in pissing him off about Ben and Max. He wondered who was the one who had spilled the beams about their previous relationship in the first place. These things were meant to be private, damn it.

"Hey."

"What?" Alec bit out tersely.

Biggs sobered at his tone. "Just kidding, alright?"

Alec waved a dismissive hand around. "Nah, it's alright. I guess I'll just walk around until I find her."

Just then, Laney and Ren walked up to them. Taking in their sweaty state, Alec surmised that they must have been training.

Raising a brow, Ren remarked, "You're looking for Max? I think I heard her voice back in the cells before I left for the training grounds. She must be talking to Ben or something."

Alec shot to his feet instantly. Without a single word to his unit mates, he strode past them and jogged down the corridor. The building housing their sleeping quarters was just a short walk away, but he was feeling impatient suddenly.

Ben was in her cell _again_? What was he doing in there? Why couldn't they just talk _outside_like any normal friends?

Glowering, he quickened his steps further until he reached the building. Without pause, he ran up the steps. He was probably acting ridiculous, but he could not help it. There was nothing going on between them anyway, right? He should not be worried at all, right?

Then why was he running?

Gritting his teeth, he forcibly slowed his steps as he neared her cell. Deep breaths, Alec. If Max saw him like this and guessed what he was thinking, she would definitely sink a right hook in his face. His actions made it seem like he did not trust her. And that was not the impression he wanted to give her. They had gone through too much for him to mess it up just because he was feeling possessive.

Possessive? Where did that come from? Smacking his head with his palm, Alec released a heartfelt groan. Fine, maybe he was a little possessive. Hell, he might as well go all the way and admit that he was whipped.

The door to her cell was slightly ajar.

"Max?" he called out, then extended his hand to push the door open.

His eyes flicked between the two figures in the cell. Ben was sitting on her bunk with her, but there was a healthy amount of space between them, much to his relief. Giving himself an inward shake, he mentally reiterated once again that Max had chosen him, not Ben.

"Hey," she greeted softly.

Keeping his expression casual, he leaned against the doorframe. "You didn't show up for lunch."

"Miss me?"

Before he could answer, Ben shot to his feet. "I've got something to do," he announced gruffly.

As Ben slid past him, their eyes met. For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Then something unspoken passed between them. With a slight nod, Ben broke their gaze and resumed his journey into the corridor.

He turned to Max to find her wearing a curious expression.

"Uh… What was that all about?"

Alec shrugged as he stepped fully into the room. "Beats me."

But he knew. In that one moment of contact, Ben had given his okay for them to be together. Alec had thought that he could not care less what his twin thought until a while ago. But judging by the relief he had felt, he was obviously wrong. He did not really need Ben's approval, but it was a nice thing to have.

Keeping his tone light, he remarked, "So… you were catching up, huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Among other things."

"Care to share?" he asked, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Hmm… He said he'll beat you up if you make me cry," she said, poking him in the ribs.

Twisting away from her without losing his hold around her shoulders, he adopted a wounded look. "I'm hurt that you'd even _think_ that I'll make you cry."

She grinned. "Ben's just looking out for me, you know."

"Yeah, I know." He sobered before he added rather uncomfortably, "Look, I'm not big on these sappy emotional stuff…"

She raised an astonished brow.

"But since you already said it, I thought you might want to know that… I… uh…" he faltered uncertainly.

A slow grin spread across her face. "Spit it out, Alec."

He scowled at her. "You're not making this easy on me, are you?"

Chuckling, she shook her head.

He rolled his eyes, and then reached up to cup her cheeks in his hands. "I love you, alright? Just thought I should say it," he muttered gruffly.

Her expression softened instantly. Sliding her arms around him, she rested her face on his chest.

"Yeah, I know."

Enveloped by her warmth, Alec closed his eyes and buried his nose in her hair. He could never have imagined that they would end up like this, considering the two tragedies that had brought them together. But he was glad of it. He was glad that they had met. Because at that very moment, he realised that he had never felt so content, so at peace, in his entire life.

And it was all because of Max.

…

The End

…

* * *

A/N: That's it! The story is all done and it marks the end of my Dark Angel fanfiction days. Please review if you could – It'll be greatly appreciated, thanks! 


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